


My Recitation of Your Sins

by LNHWrites



Series: Season 2 AU [1]
Category: Dynasty (TV 2017)
Genre: Bringing this over from FF.net, Everybody lies a lot in this one, F/M, I'm here for the drama, No but really this might be a little melodromatic, Season 2 AU, falliam, it was fun to write though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 71,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21612118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNHWrites/pseuds/LNHWrites
Summary: Season 2 AU, Divergent from 2x13.When Culhane takes on a supervisory role at Carrington Atlantic, Fallon is convinced that he's working to destroy her family's name and legacy. More surprising than that, however, is the fact that she has to team up with Liam in order to stop him.
Relationships: Blake Carrington/Cristal Jennings, Fallon Carrington/Liam Ridley, Steven Carrington/Sam "Sammy Jo" Jones
Series: Season 2 AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795144
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Some of you might know me if you also read Dynasty fics over on FF.net. I have the same username there. I discovered that AO3 is more active for this fandom than FF is, though, so I'm going to be posting my stories here as well. My longest story thus far is this one, at 30 chapters. I'll be uploading them one at a time, though, so I can go back through and check for grammar/typo/etc issues, or to make things more clear.
> 
> When this was initially written, it started right after “Even Worms Can Procreate,” which was 2x13, and was inspired by the titles for the following episodes, “Parisian Legend Has It..." and "Miserably Ungrateful Men", as well as the summary for 2x13, which reads:
> 
> "Cristal and Blake have a surprise visitor show up who threatens to unravel their relationship, while Fallon goes to war with Culhane when he becomes a power player at Carrington Atlantic."
> 
> Really, it's an AU based upon the latter half of that description, and the fact that we knew Adam Huber would come back as Liam later in the season. So I essentially wrote these chapters and tried to post them Thursdays so the show wouldn't influence the story too much, but new characters like Adam Carrington did of course slip into the story. But he definitely is not exactly the same as the Adam on the show, since I purposefully altered things to fit the story.
> 
> Rambling aside, here is chapter one.
> 
> \------

The door to Cristal's room opened, and through it walked the head of the manor, lost in his own thoughts. The last thing he was expecting was for his daughter to walk right in front of him, making him jerk to a halt. She was watching him with such an angry, determined look that he had no choice but to react.

"Fallon. Now's not a good time."

Fallon side-stepped in time with Blake's attempt at walking around her. "No, now is exactly the time. Did you hear what Culhane did?"

"Really? Of all things, you want to talk about him?"

"Yes!" Fallon lifted her phone, showing him a news article she'd pulled up. "He's working at CA! There's absolutely no way that he's not doing that to either get under our skin, or to ruin us."

Blake shook his head, brushing off her worry. "It's not our company anymore. If he's hurting anyone, it's the family of that so-called ex-husband of yours."

"It's still our name, Dad. You really think he's not up to anything?"

Fallon slipped her phone into her pocket, bristling at her father's inability to see the obvious scheming that Michael had to be up to. After that press conference-gone-bad for the soccer team, he'd quit just after Blake fired her, and she couldn't think of a single reason why he would put himself in line with Liam and the Van Kirks unless it meant destroying Carrington Atlantic – or at least the Carringtons themselves.

Besides, Fallon didn't need anyone else bringing up Liam after the disastrous last run-in they'd had.

Blake shook his head again, stepping aside and walking off, telling her over his shoulder, "If you think I'm going to focus on anything right now besides Cristal's injuries and our loss, you're crazier than your mother."

Alright, that one hurt. Fallon deflated, looking from her father to the closed bedroom door that Cristal lay behind. The accident had been so violent that Cristal lost the baby, and Fallon couldn't even begin to understand what that sudden emptiness must feel like. Sure, she'd felt the rejection from Liam more than anything else since her mother left back in high school, but miscarriage didn't sound the same.

Drawing in a breath to settle her temper and the sudden return of the Liam Pain, as she'd started calling it in her head, Fallon turned to head downstairs. One would think, in a house as big as the Carrington estate, it would be easy to avoid people. But all she seemed to do since returning from Paris with Sam and Steven was run into them. And Kirby, of course.

At the dining table, the three of them were sitting and eating breakfast. Fallon quickly turned on her heels to avoid any of them noticing her mood.

She was outside with Bo when her phone pinged – a text from Monica, questioning the news about Culhane and CA. Fallon sighed, leaning against the fence behind the horse stables. If her father wasn't going to find outrage in something so obvious, perhaps it would be up to Fallon to see what, exactly, Culhane was up to. She needed something to fill her time with until a new business opportunity came about. Obviously, her last attempt at seeming put-together was a completely pathetic lie. So she wasn't about to jump on board with something that wasn't going to help her move forward.

Maybe finding out what Michael was doing would give her a purpose again. With that drive pushing her on, Fallon made her way back inside with an urgency to her that she hadn't felt in days.

\--

The Carrington Atlantic offices were bustling that afternoon, employees refreshed from their lunch breaks. For pretty much all of them, the transition to new ownership didn't bother them. It was, however, incredibly strange to see the heiress to the Carrington name walking through the halls like she owned the place again. It had been months since her last appearance as such, yet people still got out of her way instinctively as she passed.

Everyone, that is, except one.

"Fallon?"

The brunette stopped short, heart jumping into her throat. What? It couldn't be-

"...Liam?" She turned, staring at him, baffled by the business clothes he wore and the fury on his face.

"You cannot be serious," he said sharply. "How did you find out I was here?"

Fallon tilted her head to the side just slightly, baffled. "I- I didn't. Are you working here now?" Her forehead creased with confusion. He hated his family. He hated all of this. Didn't he?

He huffed, looking around like he expected someone else from her ski resort crew to show up. "Yeah. Sort of. For now, anyway- But, Fallon, you promised you would stay away. Why is this so hard for you to understand?"

Oh. Of course. Fallon should've known better, really. After what she'd done to his girlfriend, it made sense that he would think so ill of her. She was pretty sure that he would disapprove of why she was actually there, too, though. So coming up with a response proved more difficult than she expected.

"I'm not here because of you. I'm... here to see Culhane."

Liam scoffed almost too loudly, and Fallon felt certain she knew precisely what he was thinking. Something along the lines of her rebounding hard, no doubt. And right back to where she'd come from, which made it even worse. If only he knew about that other mistake she made with Michael not too long ago. Perhaps then he wouldn't have been so taken aback.

"It's not like that," she continued quickly. "I just need to talk to him. About my family. So, if you'll excuse me-"

He held up a hand to stop her, and Fallon watched something change behind his eyes. "Everything's all right?"

It was just so _Liam_ of him. Caring despite everything she'd done. Frankly, she couldn't believe he'd stopped her at all, considering the last thing he'd apparently felt because of her was disgust. So she cleared her throat, and told the truth. "I don't know. A lot has happened since - since I last saw you. I'm sorry, by the way. Again. If I'd known you were here, I wouldn't have come. I have no intention of upsetting you, or getting you in trouble with... Ashley."

Saying her name still stung, but the last thing she wanted was for him to reinforce the fact that he was happy with someone else – particularly someone as frustratingly terrible as Ashley. Not that she'd ever say such a thing aloud, anymore, of course. Not to Liam. Point being, she needed to escape as quickly as possible.

Fallon checked her watch, feeling certain that Michael had to be back from lunch, now. She'd half hoped she could sit in his office, waiting for him, but that was looking less and less likely. She just needed to get out of there. "Listen, Liam, I genuinely do not want to get in your way anymore. So if you could just tell me where Michael's office is, I'll be out of your hair."

It took a moment, and she could feel his observant gaze boring into her, but he finally directed her down the hall and to the right, just before the copy room. So the moment he finished his sentence, she took off, trying to gather herself properly before she made it there.

As for Liam, he turned to watch her as she passed, astounded by the whole situation. She had apologized, yet again, and he actually felt a little bad for how he had reacted to her being there. If he was being entirely fair, he knew that there was little chance of her ever knowing he'd joined CA again. He'd only done it the first time for her. And he'd only done so this time for his mother, and it occurred to him that perhaps he needed to stop doing things entirely for the women he loved. But then again, doing so had brought Fallon back into his life, however briefly. And he had to admit he'd been wondering about her since seeing how devastated she'd been at that bar.

Something she'd said made him stop as he began to turn towards his office. She sounded more concerned about her family than she'd wanted to let on, and though he really knew better, Liam found his feet moving as he followed her at distance down the hall towards Culhane's new office. He overheard Michael's shock at her being there, but Fallon closed the door behind her, so he had to walk all the way up to the door to make out the immediate anger coming from the both of them.

Fallon dropped her briefcase down into the chair in front of Michael's desk, crossing her arms to face off with him, already getting into the thick of it. "Did you really think we wouldn't find out?!"

"What the hell are you doing here, Fallon? Come to ruin yet another job for me? I think it's clear that for them to hire me, they're technically taking a risk. I don't need you coming in and making this even worse."

She scoffed, not buying it for a second. "You could have applied anywhere. You and I both know you're doing this to get back at me."

Michael leaned forward over his desk, setting his palm down so he could point aggressively with the other one in her direction. "Not everything is about you, Fallon! When are you going to get that through your head?"

"Maybe when you stop making it your life's work to ruin mine."

"I don't see why I would bother focusing on you, when your whole family has made it so obvious that _my_ family is somehow less worthy. I have a title, now. I have a shot at a career on my own."

Fallon actually had to let out a sarcastic laugh at that one. He was so blind! "On your own? You're still using the family name to get whatever it is you're after, Michael. And if you think for one second I'm not going to keep my eye on you, after everything that's happened, you're dead wrong."

"I already knew you were crazy, Fallon, but this is taking it too far. Just go home."

She stayed put for a moment, staring at him. She didn't believe him for a second. Not after everything they had been through, and all the lies she'd watched him tell. Maybe she wasn't perfect at catching them, but her suspicion had her on edge, and Fallon knew right then and there that she wasn't done trying to prove what Culhane was up to.

Outside, Liam could barely make out the last threat she gave Michael, which involved a very serious warning against touching anything to do with the Carringtons, but by the time Fallon picked up her bag to leave and walked out the door, Liam was long gone.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days, Fallon was nowhere to be found within the offices of Carrington Atlantic, and Michael was thoroughly relieved by it. For all her faults, interfering and scheming were talents even he could not deny. It just so happened that those talents were completely unhelpful for him, now. When Fallon didn't rear her head before the end of the work week, he started to believe he would actually get off scot free. But about as soon as he'd had that thought, who else would've walked through his door but Liam Ridley himself.

Just when he was starting to think that Fallon and her family were the worst of his problems, Michael knew instantly he had zero interest in discussing those very people with Fallon's ex-something. Because what else could the guy want, right?

"Culhane, we need you to attend a meeting Monday morning for our new hires. I would've emailed you, but I was stopping by to print off some documents, anyway."

Oh. Perhaps mercy really did exist. Michael nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Sure. First thing?"

"Around nine-fifteen, ideally. Just to make sure everybody can find the main conference room and everything." Liam cracked a smile, seemingly attempting to play nice.

"Understood." Although, it did raise a question. "You're... running the meeting?"

Liam shook his head, obviously glad to be saying, "No. My aunt and the board will be involved with that. I'm just here to pass along the news."

His aunt? Michael couldn't help the way his mind jumped to Liam's Uncle Max. To what he had demanded, and what Fallon's decisions had caused. A chain reaction from hell. But he had no desire to bring that up, regardless of the fact that Liam believed Fallon. Michael still didn't see why she hadn't told him from the beginning, though her complicated feelings towards the other man likely had a great deal to do with that.

No. Enough of that. Quite enough. "Got it," Michael said after a moment, hoping Liam would just leave. But he lingered, looking around the newly-redecorated office before finally speaking up.

"Listen, I don't plan on sticking around CA for very long. So I just want to make sure that we're... maybe not good, but at least accepting of the fact that what happened is in the past."

There it was. But the man had a point. Michael didn't want every meeting or passing in the hallway to turn into a standoff or awkward silence. God help them if they got stuck in the elevator together. "Yeah, well it seems like we're both free of the Carringtons now."

Liam nodded, but something about the slight downward tilt of his mouth suggested that he wasn't sure he agreed. "Well... as free as one can be while working in a building they purchased, and working for a company under their name. Right?"

Michael grimaced. No one could leave that alone, could they? And as much as he wanted to contradict the observation, there wasn't much of a point in pretending. "Well. I've gotta start in something I know before I pretend I can do something I don't know."

"That's fair. As far as I've heard, you're more than qualified for your role. And it seems this company could've used a new Communications and Outreach Specialist a long time ago." Liam took a step back, heading for the door. "I'd better go get those papers. See you around."

As Liam left, Michael reached up to rub at the back of his neck, still feeling uncomfortable. This whole situation would have been more distressing if he didn't have a serious determination to see his plans through. After checking that the hallway was clear, he pulled his phone from his pocket and placed a call, walking over to the window behind his desk to gaze outside as he waited for the answer to come through.

"I didn't think I'd hear from you again," the slow, amused and sultry voice said in place of a greeting.

Michael could practically see the smirk growing across her face, and something about it made him crack a smile, too. "Yeah, well something's come up. A new... opportunity."

"Yes," she drawled. "I heard about that. Can't say I expected it of you, though. Or that I expected you to call. Especially after what happened to your friend."

"A lot happened because of what you caused. So I'd say it's high time for you to make up for it." He paused, and upon hearing her wary hum of consideration, he decided to push harder. "He nearly died because of you, Ada. It destroyed everything with Fallon-"

"Well that was never going to last, now was it?"

Michael frowned deeply. "I'm trying to tell you that my opportunity could be an opportunity for both of us. But this time, I'm running the show."

\------------------------

Kirby, despite her unbelievably rocky return to the Carrington manor, actually felt like she was starting to fit in. Things were a little different around Sam, now, since he had Steven back. But on the plus side, Fallon had talked (as in, forced) her brother into letting her take on the role of event planning and fundraising for the Steven Carrington Foundation. That, evidently, Fallon didn't think she could mess up. And to be entirely fair, Kirby had to admit that if anybody knew how to plan a party, it was her.

However, Fallon had always been an assistant-wanting kind of girl, and this time it was Kirby that wanted something to do. Now that she and Fallon were sort of friends, it seemed like the right time to both offer and beg to help. Beg, that is, when Fallon said she wanted to do it on her own. All things considered, the woman definitely could. But Kirby had done lesser jobs than being someone's assistant, and Fallon had eventually decided to give her a shot.

For now.

When a knock sounded at the door that Friday afternoon, Kirby was sat opposite Fallon on the couches in the living room. It had been weeks, but somehow Kirby still missed the giant Christmas tree that had stood before the windows. In its place sat a pile of boxes, each containing a variety of decorations that they were going to use at Steven's return party. Not that Steven was looking forward to something like that, obviously. He'd gotten into one too many strange scrapes while abroad, but Fallon was adamant that he had to make an appearance to ensure the charitable donors wouldn't direct their funds elsewhere.

Kirby turned her head and leaned forward a little to watch her father answer the front door. But when she saw who it was, her jaw dropped. "Uhhh..."

Fallon didn't respond straight away, instead focused and tapping away on her laptop.

"Um. Fallon?"

"What?"

Kirby looked over at her, but Fallon hadn't lifted her head. "You're going to want to look at the door. Like, now."

Fallon's brow furrowed, but she looked up at Kirby right as Anders stepped forward to speak to her.

"You have a visitor. Shall I tell them you're busy?"

"No, that's alright." Fallon shut her laptop, stood, and turned towards Anders as she brushed down her skirt. But behind him, she saw the most surprising thing she could think of. She cleared her throat quietly. "Excuse me."

Stepping around Anders, Fallon walked towards the front door as calmly as she could. And when she got there, she stepped right through the door, shutting it behind her so Kirby would be less capable of overhearing.

"Liam, what are you doing here?"

"I think you're right about Culhane."

Fallon turned her head slightly, taken aback. "I don't know what you mean," she lied, feeling quite sure that she hadn't told him enough to give him an inkling as to what she meant.

"I.. I overheard your argument with him," Liam explained. His apologetic look only deepened as she crossed her arms. "Look, I'm sorry, all right? But he called Ada today."

Fallon closed her eyes as a sudden sigh escaped. "Of course he did." In truth, she was a little more impressed with his willingness to be sneaky than she was annoyed with him. "And I'm assuming you know that because of your new eavesdropping hobby?"

"The second time wasn't intentional. I was walking past and he was talking to her."

Even though it proved to some extent that she was right, Fallon was struggling to understand why Liam was actually standing in front of her. "So... You came to warn me or something?"

Liam shrugged, but shook his head slightly. "Not exactly. You know him better than anyone, Fallon." Her skeptical expression made him backtrack. "Well, better than me. And I know you're usually the one with the plans, but I had an idea. One that I think could help protect both of our families."

"You're getting really on board with this whole family business thing, aren't you? What happened to your manuscript? What happened to the crazy family you changed your name to avoid?"

They fell into a momentarily stony silence, standing off in the doorway. Until Liam shook his head, muttering a, "never mind," before turning away to head towards his car. And that was enough for Fallon to rush forward, catching his arm. They both froze until she tore her hand away, trying to pretend she wasn't actually blushing.

"Just... I'm sorry. Okay? As usual," she muttered, feeling entirely unlike herself. It wasn't fair at all that he could affect her like this now, when she used to have everything together. Clearly he was right. She had changed. So maybe that meant it was time for her to repay him for everything he'd done. "What's your plan?"

He took a breath, seemingly needing a moment to convince himself that his idea was the right one. But then he looked her in the eye, deeply serious. "I need you to come back to CA."

\-----------------

Kirby jumped back from the door when Fallon opened it several minutes later. Liam was driving off as Fallon stepped inside, stopping short to stare at Kirby. "What are you doing?"

Kirby frowned at her. "Are you kidding? You think I wouldn't try to listen in when _he_ shows up? What's going on?"

"Nothing, really," Fallon replied. But even Kirby could read that one as a lie.

"Yeah, right. He wouldn't have driven over here for nothing." A guess came to mind and she gasped almost too loudly. "Did the stuff at the resort actually work?" If it had, Kirby was going to forever lord that over everybody's heads. But based on the grimace she received, she realized that wasn't the answer. "Fine. Then, what?"

The brunette shifted her weight, but shrugged. "He offered me a job. So I guess that means I won't have as much time to help with the foundation."

"It's a good thing you've got a killer assistant, then," Kirby chirped, pretending to be distracted despite already scheming ways to get her new friend to tell her more. When it came to Liam, it was clear that Fallon couldn't quite keep her head on straight. So presumably, Kirby would find out sooner or later. It was best not to make Fallon angry with her before that happened.

"Yes, well... We'll see. If this masquerade is a disaster, don't think I'm going to take the fall for it if I also have to be in the office all day."

"Don't worry, Fallon! Don't forget, I've been to loads of parties, too. Even ones thrown by you and your family. I know what's expected." Kirby reached out, taking hold of Fallon's upper arms. "You just focus on Liam. And let me know if you need more scheming. I'm sure I could get Sam on board."

Fallon stepped back, holding up a hand to force Kirby to let go of her. "Okay... Well, let's not tell anybody about the job just yet. I'm not sure how it's gonna go."

Kirby shrugged, happy enough to be on the inside of whatever this new adventure was going to entail. But then Fallon was stepping around her and returning to the couch, so Kirby scurried after her to assist with details on the meal for their party.


	3. Chapter 3

Fallon stood in line at the coffee shop, shuffling impatiently both out of a deadline she needed to keep as well as a frustration with having to do it at all. But Liam, standing next to her, was determined.

"This is such a waste of time," she muttered to him, checking her phone for the third time since they'd walked in. "Why not just have an assistant or something pick this up?"

"Because," Liam countered easily, " _you_ need my mother to stop hating you. And we both need an excuse to be late to the meeting."

She shot him a look out of the corner of her eye. "I still don't see why we have to walk in together. Wouldn't you rather pretend someone else brought me on board? After all, announcing your faith in someone who's wronged you so seriously sounds pretty risky."

The person in front of them placed their order and stepped aside, so Liam walked up and began reading off of a short list. Fallon waited for her turn to request her own, but to her surprise he already had exactly what she wanted written down, so she just followed him off to the end of the counter after he paid.

Liam turned to face her, picking up where he'd left the conversation to order. "You asked me before what I was doing at CA. And you're right. I'd much rather be focused on the publication of my manuscript. But after what you said to my mother... You wouldn't believe it, but she's been trying. She asked me to return, so I did. And much like this is a challenge for me, I'm not going to throw you to the wolves where she's concerned. She may have recognized your points, Fallon, but she didn't appreciate them."

"Did you ever tell her the truth? About us?"

"No." He paused to collect one of the drink carriers when it was set in front of them, waiting for her to pick up the other before adding, "She doesn't need more ammunition against you. Or me. Let's go."

He walked out without waiting for her, and Fallon just sighed heavily before following after him.

\---------------

Laura Van Kirk sat at the right hand of the president of Carrington Atlantic's board, waiting to see what her son was up to. She really was trying to more effectively understand 'Liam,' but it was hard when she obviously still wanted to call him Jack. But he had agreed to help transition these new hires in since he had some experience with the company previously. Because of her. The nightmare of an ex-wife that Laura outright refused to admit was the reason behind her change in demeanor when it came to her son.

Regardless of what Liam said about Fallon, she still wasn't convinced about his claim of moving on. She just knew better than to bring it up when they were slowly starting to gain ground.

She looked around the room, taking in the variety of new titles and employees, still mildly confused as to why she had to be there for this when really Max had bought the company. At least Mora wasn't interested in being on site, when she had 'things' to attend to in New York. All the better for Laura, who hated Mora just about as much as she hated Max. Or, used to hate Max? Same difference, really.

A few seats down from Laura sat Michael Culhane, who she was still somewhat bemused by. He was a risk, to be sure, but employed on contract at least, so they were only required to keep him around for a specific amount of time if he messed up too badly – at least, without suffering the hit to their finances that firing him early would cause.

The Head of HR stood to address the group, distracting Laura as she began to move on to the person next to Michael, thankfully sparing her from getting lost in her thoughts for too long. Just as they were getting started on their grand welcoming powerpoint, the conference room's door opened to reveal Liam, carrying several capped coffees.

"Sorry," he began. "The line was unexpectedly long."

Understanding smiles began to appear on various faces – at least, until Liam stopped to hold the door open, revealing the woman he'd brought with him. Laura sat forward in shock; an awkward mirror to Michael's own response at seeing Fallon walk in with the rest of the coffees. That was who the other empty chair was for? Hell no.

Fallon definitely noticed the shock and anger in their reactions, but made unapologetic eye-contact as Liam began passing around the requested beverages.

"Fallon?"

She looked over, surprised to see him gesture to a chair he'd pulled out just before sinking into the one next to it. Well, surprised until she remembered that he was of course always a gentleman, no matter who he was speaking to.

Throughout the on-boarding meeting, Fallon had to fight to keep her attention on the speaker, having met them numerous times during her previous employment at the family company. Doing so, however, allowed her to ignore (for the most part) the glares of both Michael and Laura. Half to distract herself from the discomfort of it, Fallon vaguely wondered after how Liam's step-father, George, was doing. And how ironic it was, even looking back on it, for Laura to have made snide comments about Liam and her when it was obvious that George was much more like Steven and Sam than like Liam. Fallon quite liked George, of course. It was a shame he wasn't the one sitting in Laura's seat. At least he wouldn't have looked ready to tear Fallon's head off.

As soon as they were dismissed, most of the new employees left, heading towards their offices either to make a show of how eager they were to work, or perhaps to avoid the tension. Fallon, however, stayed seated because Liam did. Much to her distaste, so did Laura and Michael. And once the room emptied otherwise, Laura was the first to speak up, her gaze locked onto Fallon.

"I'd say you were brave, but it seems more likely that you're simply insane."

Fallon sat up even straighter, ready to respond, but Liam got to it first. "Mom. Fallon is here because you said we needed a new Director of Business-to-Business Sales. And no one knows this business like her."

"Perhaps," Laura replied. But then she turned towards Michael. "Though I'm deeply curious to know what you think about all of this, Mr. Culhane."

Michael shook his head, arms already crossed in his frustration. "I'd say that Blake knows the company just as well. But _he_ might be less of a liability."

Fallon's eyes narrowed sharply, and as much as she wanted to keep her cool in front of Liam, she knew full well they were a bit beyond that point. "If you had any idea what my father is going through right now, you wouldn't make snide comments about us. Moreover, after what you've done, you have no right to bring him into this. Who's next? _Jeff_?"

Michael scoffed, pushing away from the table and standing up. "Just stay away from me."

"Gladly," Fallon quipped in return, watching him as he left the room.

Once he was gone, Liam looked to Fallon, confused. "What happened to your father?"

But she shook her head, unwilling to discuss it in front of Laura. He looked over at his mother like he'd forgotten she was there. Wishful thinking, perhaps. Either way, Fallon was suddenly feeling in desperate need of some air. So she picked up her coffee and bag, then stood and looked to Liam. "Can you show me where my desk is?"

He nodded, of course, and led her out of the room – leaving Laura behind to try and figure out what, exactly, her son was up to.

Liam led Fallon toward the elevator, taking her up several floors, to where the Sales and Outreach staff worked. Once there, he pointed out an office for her. It wasn't until they stepped inside that Fallon turned to properly look around – and realized whose office sat opposite hers.

"You're a genius," she said without thinking, deeply genuine in her amazement.

He had to chuckle at that, tucking his hands into his pockets as he shook his head. "The room was sitting empty, so..."

"Assuming Michael will notice pretty quickly, what's the game plan? It isn't like he'll leave his door open for me to just wander in."

"No," he agreed. "But we have time to think of something now that you're back."

Fallon nodded, running her hand along her new desk as she tried not to miss the old office she'd grown so used to. On the other hand, that was where she'd first told Liam goodbye, so at least she was starting fresh. Or trying to.

"I'll come up with something," she promised, sinking into her chair and clasping her hands atop the desk. "And help CA in the process."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, folks! If you're anything like me, the holidays aren't super wonderful like they're supposed to be. So I'll be posting a few updates throughout the day when I get time. And perhaps it'll be a good distraction/something else to think about if you need it.
> 
> On a brighter, and deeply amusing note, my best friend got me a gift for Christmas, made up of Fallon/Femperial/Dynasty related merch and I laughed so hard I cried. So here's hoping today turns out better than you'd expected, too! <3

Michael did an excellent job of avoiding Fallon throughout the rest of the day, even she could admit that. But he also – much to her frustration – always locked his door when he left the office. She was pretty sure she saw him do so just to go down to the bathroom or to get coffee. Liam also seemed to make a point of keeping to his assigned floor, so she didn't run into him again before it came time to head home. Just in case, she also took up the habit of locking her office door before walking over to the elevators.

Just moments after Fallon closed the front door to the Carrington manor, Kirby was bounding down the stairs, her excitement completely obvious.

"So?!" Kirby asked impatiently, coming up alongside Fallon as the brunette headed for the kitchen.

"I thought we agreed we would keep this private," Fallon replied as she shot a frustrated look her friend's way. "Freaking out when I walk in the door isn't exactly the best way to do that."

Kirby groaned, rolling her eyes. "Oh, come on. Nothing stays secret in this house and you know it." At Fallon's judgmental look, she hurried on, "I mean, I haven't said anything. But you really think a rehire like you won't make news eventually? That's the same way you found out about Michael."

Fallon looked reluctant to accept that, though the agreement was obvious on her face as she reached over to pick up an apple before leaning against the counter and sighing. "I know. But I already told Dad about him working there. So if everyone finds out I've taken a job, too-"

"-They'll think you're trying to win him back." Kirby nodded. "Or trying to destroy him again."

The threatening, narrowed gaze Kirby received made her lift her hands apologetically.

"I'm just saying," she continued, "you can only hide things for so long. So you may as well tell me the truth so I can help bury it or pass it on once people start to ask questions."

Fallon took a bite of her apple, considering, before finally nodding. "Upstairs."

Once they were both safely within the confines of Fallon's bedroom, with even Kirby sitting atop the bed to face her, the brunette finally sighed and gave in to Kirby's request.

"Liam overheard Michael calling Ada. So he brought me on board, I guess... thinking that I'd be able to help keep her away from the company."

"Does he really still blame the Van Kirks for your breakup?"

"I don't know. Maybe? But the decisions I made felt like they were for us. Not me, or Liam, or even my family. I can't feel the same way about his decision to lie and to keep working with Ada even after she handed over the blackmail she had on me."

Kirby frowned, clearly reluctant to say what had just come to mind. "... Are you sure she really got rid of all the copies? Just because she printed them out doesn't mean the digital files or whatever are gone. Not to dig up old mistakes, but you kind of got his dirty laundry aired because of Atlantix. Why would he go for the company and not just... you?"

Rolling her eyes, Fallon relaxed further into her pile of pillows. "If I truly understood him, we wouldn't have broken up."

"Okay, well we clearly need to find out what he's after. And if the blackmail is really out of the picture."

"That would be easier if we could get into his things. Culhane has started locking his office constantly. If that isn't code for I'm hiding something, I don't know what is."

Kirby hmm'd quietly, laying across the foot of the bed to stare up at the ceiling. "Well, if he's up to stuff, he would probably have something hidden at his place, too. So that's just another door in our faces."

"... Kirby?" Fallon asked slowly. "You can pick locks, right?"

"Well, yeah. But I can't just show up at his apartment. What if he's there? Or has some fancy new security? After the break in, it wouldn't be surprising."

"We've put you in a disguise before. That part isn't hard. But making sure he isn't home... Well, you could go while we're at work."

Kirby shrugged. "I guess so. It's probably not possible, but I wish we could snag his cell phone. Or, better yet, something off Ada herself. With the masquerade on Friday, though, we won't have too much time."

Fallon sat forward slowly, that all-too familiar look on her face of scheming and pride in her ideas. "A masquerade is the perfect place for a disguise," she mused, drawing Kirby's gaze again, though this time in confusion. "Let's say... Steven wanted Michael to come, because they used to get along, at least to an extent. Who else would Michael sneak in as his plus one?"

Kirby pushed herself up, eyes wide and excited. "Of course! Is there a time tomorrow when you won't be in your office? I could stop by, saying he asked me to since I'm planning the party-" she hesitated slightly at Fallon's mild disapproval, "-at least as far as he'll know, anyway."

"Just ask for him downstairs, and if he's busy, leave it for him. But yes, tomorrow, so he has time to make up whatever his attempt at a plan will be," Fallon agreed. "We'll just make sure security watches out for him. The staff here should be able to recognize him or at least lock doors beyond the party itself."

"Perfect."

\-----------

The next day, Fallon was in the middle of a call with one of CA's biggest clients when Culhane's door opened. He stopped to lock the door, a mildly confused look on his face as he purposefully avoided looking at her, then headed towards the elevators. A moment later, Fallon's cell lit up with a silent notification: Kirby, saying she was about to finalize the guest list. Fallon grinned broadly, finishing up her call with a pep in her metaphorical step.

A few minutes later, Culhane returned to his office, a square envelope in hand. Fallon knew better than to ever ask him if Steven had reached out, and it seemed unlikely that he would bring it up with her if he indeed wanted to do something sneaky. Just before his door shut again, she saw him reach into his pocket and pull out his cell phone.

Her grin turned into a devious smirk.

She was about to check her email when her phone lit up again. Kirby: Actually, there might be one more person who should be invited.

Fallon didn't need clarification. Of course it made sense to fill Liam in. But inviting him to a family function, whether for a clever plan or not, felt strange. They had been to many together, all of them under a guise that she actually wasn't eager to revisit. Worse, though, she didn't want to invite him, because then she had to mention that they were open to plus ones. Which meant Ashley Cunningham, whose name even Fallon Carrington had to admit was slightly ironic.

She had made a promise, though. She wouldn't interfere, she wouldn't be childish about his desire to move on. And as she'd said since returning from the ski trip, she needed to show him the best version of her – the one he'd known at the start when she didn't think she needed anyone. It wasn't that she actually needed him, though. She just wanted him. And really, that meant that Liam had been right all along. Damnit.

Courage in hand, Fallon made her way to Liam's office, determined to be a bigger person. For him.

Luckily, he was there when she walked in, and he actually startled like he'd been caught at something, quickly clicking something.

"You okay?" She asked, an eyebrow lifting a little warily.

"Yeah, sorry." He lifted a hand in a sort of apology as well. "I'm trying not to get caught doing revisions for my editor."

Curiosity brought Fallon closer to his desk. "They're due soon?"

He nodded. "Friday morning. But this is supposed to be the last round." He leaned back in his chair, looking confident in a way she'd really missed.

"Well," Fallon nodded, sinking into the chair opposite his without waiting for permission, "I'm excited for you. Maybe this time I'll actually get a chance to read it, considering my mother didn't pass it on."

Liam looked a little surprised, but cracked a smile. "I'd actually really like that. But you came up here for something. What was it?"

"Well, after a recent... fiasco of sorts, Steven has returned home. And until you came by to recruit me, I'd been planning his return party, hoping to keep the investors in his foundation from digging too far into why he was gone. Considering," she glanced over her shoulder for a moment, just in case, "who else we have invited, I thought you might like to come as well."

"I see," he replied, clearing taking her meaning.

"It's Friday night at the manor, masquerade-themed. So in all likelihood, some people may try to... go under the radar. Which you're of course welcome to do. Or you can look for me and Kirby. But either way," she drew in a breath, forcing out the words, "you're welcome to bring a plus one. We expect people to start showing up around seven-thirty, so anytime after that."

He didn't react to her mention of a plus one, but to be fair, she hadn't really expected him to.

Liam seemed to consider for a moment before nodding. "I'll be there."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For context: This was written prior to the airing of 2x14, last spring.

The manor was glowing with all manner of gold, greens and browns, which decorated the entrance and cleared-out living room in an appropriately-themed representation of Steven's foundation. He sat at the piano in the attached study, gazing out at it as Fallon made her way around in a glittering dress reminiscent of the one she wore at her twenty-fifth birthday party. Steven, of course, was less eager, and had merely donned a suit with a green tie and gold mask that he hadn't pulled down over his face yet.

Getting back into the swing of things was proving to be difficult, not half because he was unconvinced that finding out why he had been gone would be very difficult if anybody really wanted to look. And after Fallon's own PR disaster, he wasn't eager to inadvertently talk to the wrong people if he couldn't tell who was who.

Turns out, getting in over your head with the wrong people wasn't just a Culhane issue anymore. Only Steven had wanted out, and they had not taken particularly kindly to that.

"Steven?"

Sam was in the doorway, now, and probably had been for a few long moments without Steven noticing. "Sorry," he offered with a slight sigh, taking in Sam's almost-expected leopard print suit jacket. "Just... lost in thought."

Sam frowned sympathetically, moving to sit next to Steven on the piano bench. He set his hand palm-up on his leg, waiting for Steven to drop his own atop it. "I'm pretty sure Fallon planned this party to make sure you wouldn't have to play nice with the investors more than you want to. It'll be fine. And if anything goes a little weird, I'll come and rescue you."

Steven smiled a little at that. "As usual."

Over in the newly-designated party space, Fallon turned to greet Kirby as she came in from the kitchen. "Ready?"

"Yep," Kirby nodded. "Kitchen and serving staff are good to go. Dad is on top of it, like he always is." An eyebrow lifted curiously. "You think they're going to show?"

"Well, even if he does bring Ashley," Fallon began almost automatically, "I promised I wouldn't do anything about it."

Kirby's smirk had Fallon frowning in confusion. "I meant Michael and Ada."

"... Right. Well, we'll see, won't we?"

Fallon turned and wandered off to pretend she was working on last-minute fixes to the centerpieces in the middle of the scattered high tables that were set out for people to set their drinks and plates on. Watching her go, Kirby just shook her head and made her way over to check on Steven.

\---------------

The guests showed up appropriately on time or slightly late, as Fallon had expected. But more than half an hour passed and she didn't catch sight of Michael or Liam at all. Maybe neither of them had decided it was worth coming. Fallon continued to try and play hostess when her brother couldn't, and frankly, it wasn't hard to spot her amongst the crowd. Intentionally, of course, on her part.

So when yet another person approached her, tapping gently on her shoulder, Fallon wasn't surprised. But then she looked at them. "You made it," she offered, putting on a falsely easy smile as she realized almost instantly that it was Liam.

"You seem surprised. I thought being late was in fashion?" He joked, but quickly shrugged. "Or whatever the rule is supposed to be. Have you seen them yet?"

"Kirby is playing lookout, but nothing so far."

He nodded, and they fell into heavily awkward silence until Fallon couldn't stand it anymore.

"Did you want to talk to Steven? Or, want a drink or anything? Where's Ashley?"

Fallon stopped short as the question escaped without her really wanting it to. Making things weird would only increase the discomfort, and she had never thought of herself as someone who tended to do that sort of thing. Clearly she had it in her, though.

Liam didn't respond straight away, but when he spoke it was with a sort of calm that Fallon feared was borne out of his frustration with her pushing things. "I'm sure Steven is already sort of overwhelmed. But as for Ashley... We're not together anymore. Not since... you know."

She had to catch herself as the urge to quite literally let her jaw drop came on. They what? She'd brought Ashley up several times, and he'd never said anything. "Oh. I'm sorry."

He shook his head a little. "Everyone knew we weren't going to last."

"Oh?"

"Fallon, can we just... not? It's over, and we have more important things to worry about."

Right. More important than the fact that the man she loved was once again single? Sure. Except it wasn't true, in some ways. A small part of her wanted to rush around to find Kirby and tell her, but Fallon wasn't quite ready to admit that Kirby was slowly becoming her new Monica as time went on. She missed Monica, of course, but they weren't as close as they used to be.

"Of course," she agreed, nodding firmly. While her mind screamed that she now had a chance again if she tried hard enough, the evening was meant for other things. "Well, if you notice anything or see them, come find me or Kirby?"

"Okay."

So they split off, wandering their separate ways throughout the party-goers. Fallon swept past a waitress offering glasses of champagne, picking one up as she looked for Kirby, or any sign of Michael. Just as she was starting to get bored and preparing to finally go tell Kirby what she had learned, Fallon saw him.

She set her drink down almost absentmindedly at a random table, trying to circle around so that she would end up behind him. But Fallon could certainly admit that perhaps it would've been wiser to wear something less, well, obvious, if she intended to be sneaky. She only made it halfway around the entrance hall before her father called out her name, and Fallon cursed under her breath in frustration.

She turned on her heel to face Blake, waiting impatiently for him to reach her. "Yes?"

"You need to get a handle on Alexis," he told her pointing towards the show Fallon's mother was making of herself. The blonde was evidently forcing Steven to walk around the room with her, so she could either introduce him, or herself.

Fallon's mouth tightened with distaste but she nodded. "I'll handle it." But she waited until he walked away before making any motion towards either of her goals. She felt bad for Steven, but needed to keep an eye on Michael. Her hands fell to her hips as she drew in a calming breath, and turned to where Michael had been. Beside him now was a redhead that Fallon instantly doubted wasn't wearing a wig. That had to be Ada.

At least the rooms beyond the party were locked off. Fallon imagined them testing several locks only to be irritated at the fact that nothing opened at all. Perhaps she did have time. Deciding to rescue her brother first, Fallon turned to head towards him, catching Sam's arm as she caught sight of him along the way. He followed her gesture with his eyes before groaning and hurrying over to help his husband.

Fallon smiled a little. Score. She watched Alexis pout and argue with Sam for a moment, but as her mother caved and started wandering off, Fallon spun around to look for everyone else.

\------------------

Liam had located Kirby with very little trouble, as she was wandering through the room in her green dress and curly red updo. It wasn't quite as statement as Fallon's outfit, but Liam actually figured that was probably on purpose. By the time Michael arrived with his plus one, the pair of them were standing against one wall, talking a little absently.

Kirby saw him first – and saw Fallon try to go for him, then get stopped by Blake.

"Should we...?" Liam asked slowly as Fallon walked away instead.

"Probably. But he's definitely going to recognize us." Kirby turned towards him, frowning a little in thought. "Can you change your appearance a little? Like, scruff your hair, change how you stand and talk? With the mask, I can probably pass you off as a friend or something."

"Sure. Give me a minute."

Liam turned down the hall, aiming for an alcolve so he could have a moment of privacy without anyone seeing him run his hands through his hair to mess it up. It didn't seem quite right not being in its usual coif, but he hoped it would work. Playing a character wasn't exactly unfamiliar to him, and if he were telling the truth, Liam kind of enjoyed it. It spoke to that side of him that enjoyed the creative part of writing, beyond his tendency towards truthful journalism.

He walked back out, nodding a little awkwardly to a man who was passing by.. Back in the living room, Liam met up with Kirby – and Fallon, who had come over to find them. At first, Fallon didn't seem to notice him. But he lingered close enough that her eyes flicked to him a couple of times in question – only to narrow in confusion.

"What happened to you?" She asked, looking between the two of them.

"We've got this covered, Fallon," Kirby promised, looking thrilled with herself. "Give us a few minutes, okay? We can make multiple plays if we have to."

As much as Liam could sense Fallon's desire to just handle things herself, he could see the moment she gave in. "Okay. I'll go check on Steven, then."

So they split off, Liam walking with Kirby as she led him towards Culhane and the woman they both felt sure was Ada. When they reached him, Liam put on an almost too-friendly smile that wasn't quite like his more polite, normal one. Kirby tapped on Michael's shoulder, smiling at him as well when he turned, bringing his plus one around with him.

"You decided to come!" She said, turning slightly to gesture towards Liam. "This is my friend, Jake."

Michael looked the two of them over, perhaps too distracted to recognize Liam for who he was. Instead, he just nodded politely, extending a hand. "Michael. And this is Lisa," he pointed vaguely at the woman next to him.

Kirby offered a hand for the woman to nod, almost unsurprised by the firm grip that took hold of her in response. "I love your dress," she began excitedly. "Have you ever been to an event thrown by the Carringtons before?"

"I don't think so," Lisa replied, shaking her head. "I met Michael through his sister, though, and was happy to come along."

Liam attempted to distract Michael with lame questions about his career, while Kirby leaned in conspiratorially to warn Lisa that Michael's ex-fiancee was the hostess of the party, so she might wish to be careful. The amused, unconcerned look Kirby got in return was all the validation she needed. This had to be Ada. So she followed it up with, "You don't mind if I ask Michael to dance, do you? I haven't seen him in a long time, considering the breakup. I'm sure Jake would be happy to get you a drink or to dance or something! Right, Jake?"

She smiled widely at Liam, who agreed, offering his arm. Lisa – Ada, surely – looked to Michael in question. He nodded, seemingly apathetic about the whole thing. He even took Kirby's arm, leading her onto the dance floor. Once they began to fall into step with the other pairs around them, though, his expression became one of frustration, even anger.

"What are you trying to do, bringing Fallon up like that?"

Kirby frowned. He actually sounded like he cared what that woman would think. Ada most definitely knew about Fallon, so why he would be bothered was beyond the New Zealander. "I- Well, it was kind of a joke. But," she continued, playing along as innocently as she could, "if Lisa would mind something like that, then she isn't worth your effort, right? I can't say I'm not surprised, though. It hasn't been all that long since you and Fallon broke up."

Michael nodded, though it turned into a shrug. "Yeah, but we weren't exactly good for a long time before that."

Kirby frowned a little, genuinely feeling sorry for both of them at that. "...Have you talked to her about it since the stuff with Atlantix?"

He scoffed. "Absolutely not. I don't want to."

"Sorry," she said quickly, catching sight of someone who was going to pass a little too closely by her – and she pretended to trip, her hand flying to his side as she blurted out another apology. "Oh, hell! Sorry, it's- it's too crowded around here."

"That's okay," he said, not sounding quite certain that it was, in fact, okay.

"I'm going to go grab a drink, I think. Get some space."

She didn't wait for him to respond before dramatically stumbling towards the attached study, where she spotted Fallon mid-spat with Alexis. Kirby came up alongside them, interrupting whatever they were mad about. The brunette looked relieved to have an excuse to step away, and turned to Kirby with an expectant look on her face.

"I think Liam's with her," Kirby said, pointing subtly towards the dance floor. For a moment, she was almost amused to see Fallon's expression darken with distaste once she spotted them, but then Kirby started to wonder if she'd accidentally made her new friend jealous. "For reference, his name tonight is Jake. And she's claiming hers is Lisa."

"Jake?" Fallon asked, looking a little put off by it.

"What?"

"It's a little close to his real name. But I don't think Michael would remember that. I'm not even sure if I ever told him or not." Fallon tried to shrug it off, but then her hand went to her hair as she registered what had happened to Liam's. She let out a quiet hmm under her breath, but then shook her head and tried to brush it off. "Did Michael say anything of interest?"

Kirby frowned slightly. "He just really doesn't want to talk about you. Or to you, it seems."

A slow nod from Fallon was all Kirby needed to tell that she was a little hurt by that. From what Sam had told her, Michael had been Fallon's only real person for nearly five years, between Steven being gone and her fights with Monica. It was a shame that it had to end so badly that they couldn't even make up as friends or casual acquaintances. Instead, they were avoiding each other within the same room.

"Listen," Kirby continued, glancing around to make sure they wouldn't be overheard, "Let's just see what happens with Liam and we'll go from there, okay? I tried to snag Michael's phone but I couldn't get to it."

"And what is Liam supposed to do?" Fallon returned, confused by the plan they had supposedly come up with. Clearly they didn't actually have one! "I don't see any pockets on her dress."

"Have you forgotten how much money your family has? It wasn't hard to convince Sam to buy a tracker for Bo's collar, that we could then repurpose."

Fallon turned completely towards Kirby at that, shocked. "You want to put one of those on a woman like that, and you think she won't notice?! As soon as she does, she'll assume it's from me."

Kirby's face fell, and both women shifted to face the dance floor again, trying to figure how they could either stop him or convince Ada – and Michael, for that matter – that they weren't the ones who did it if they got caught.


	6. Chapter 6

Fallon shook her head at Kirby, absolutely baffled. "I still don't see how that was supposed to help. We need phone data, or proof of what she's doing. Not where she goes after this."

Kirby just crossed her arms, frustrated that her attempt to help was getting trashed so thoroughly. "If we know where she goes afterward, we can find out where she keeps her stuff," she argued. But Fallon had a point about the tracker being noticed. A woman as practiced as Ada would never miss something like that, would she? Kirby wasn't sure.

Fallon looked over at Liam again, trying to determine if she'd just managed to get him into trouble with a woman powerful enough to ruin her engagement and cunning enough to influence even Fallon into the downward spiral she'd gone through. Regardless of if Ada actually found out what they were doing, or if she realized who Liam really was, he needed to get away from her. Away from the chance that Michael would pay enough attention to recognize him.

Well. Assuming it really was Ada. Fallon couldn't tell from so far away.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Fallon stepped towards him only to be caught by Kirby's arm. "What are you doing? She'll definitely recognize you."

"And? Most people think you and I still don't get along. And most people are well aware of how I react when someone wrongs me, or my wrongs my friends. Or, equally, how I react when I think someone is getting in the way of what I want," Fallon explained, referring to the ski lodge situation. And to the admittedly immature shenanigans she had pulled when Michael started dating that friend of Jeff's. Not that she particularly wanted to go back to that time, but she definitely had some inspiration to pull from. "They don't know that 'Jake' isn't some new guy that's done something wrong. Don't worry. I won't make too much of a scene."

"Good thing you're got experience with this, I guess, but be careful. Who knows what Liam will think?"

Letting that question sink in, Fallon snatched a drink off a passing tray, downed it, and steeled herself before walking with purpose through the crowd, luckily managing to walk along the opposite side from Culhane so she wouldn't draw additional attention from him if he'd already been wary of her. He sure had been at the office, after all. So when she reached Liam, she held out a hand to interrupt them, her expression one of anger, if not jealousy.

"Sorry," she said to the woman, acting completely oblivious to who they thought she was. "Can I borrow him?"

Fallon watched as Ada stepped back, hands up. "Of course. I should go find Michael anyway," she replied, the sound of her voice putting Fallon immediately on edge. It was too familiar, too like what she had heard over the phone.

Feeling herself start to bristle in distaste and discomfort, Fallon snagged Liam's hand and pulled him off of the dance floor like she was about to lay into him.

"What the hell?" He muttered, walking quickly to keep up with her, even as he pulled back to try and make her stop. "Fallon, what are you doing?"

At the edge of the room, she finally turned around to face him. "Kirby told me what you were trying to do. I had to stop it. It wouldn't be safe for any of us."

"I don't remember you caring about whether or not things were safe, Fallon. Not if it meant getting what you wanted, or protecting the people who need you. What's changed?"

She frowned deeply, releasing him as he tried to gesture and she realized she was still gripping his hand. "I usually put _myself_ in those situations. Or someone who knows precisely what they're getting into. Not you and Kirby, who definitely never asked to be involved in things like this. Neither of you really were until you each met me."

"That's completely untrue and you know it. Kirby's told me a little about her life before moving here. And I walked into this house, originally, only knowing that you needed help and that I could give that to you. This was Kirby's plan, this time."

"And look how well that went for you and Ashley!" Fallon scoffed.

His frustration turned into anger instantly. "Don't go blaming Kirby for the things you did there."

"They were her ideas! I just wanted to distract her in order to talk to you. The spa stuff was- that's way outside my abilities. She and Sam did those things."

"I don't care who said the words first or who physically did it, Fallon. You agreed to it. You allowed it. And you acted like everything was fine when you came to talk to me that night."

"I said I was sorry! You're the one who came to me for help with all of this. If you wanted someone like Kirby – if you really never wanted to see me again – you should've just asked her instead, and kept me far, far away from you."

Hurt, and cold almost to the point of feeling numb, Fallon turned and stormed out, straight past Kirby, Steven and Sam, who had gathered to talk. She just needed a moment. A little air, a chance to breathe. She felt incredibly lucky, ironically, given that she wouldn't have to return to the office until Monday. Because unless Liam saw fit to fire her, she wasn't about to just quit yet another attempt at a job that would help her find her footing again. Somehow, even being Fallon Carrington didn't make it easier to get a job she wanted anymore. At least she wasn't on the same floor as Liam, right? So he could get some space as well.

She reached the railing of the balcony and stopped, grasping it with both hands. Looking back, she couldn't believe any of those words had left her mouth, much less in front of him. Thoughts like that were barely allowed to enter her mind, so allowing them to enter the world audibly was disorienting. Fallon couldn't even remember if she'd ever reacted that way to Michael, but at that point, it felt like she'd gone from strong and confident, to sort of anything-goes in regards to what was or was not considered 'okay.'

Fallon stood up straighter quite suddenly. She needed to move on, and get a grip. She needed another drink. That much she could give herself before she had to get back on track. At least she had bought herself time by making sure Liam couldn't tag Ada.

Just as she turned around to head back inside, Kirby and Liam showed up behind her, making Fallon jerk to a stop. "What?" She snapped, hands falling to her hips defensively.

"She left," Kirby explained. "Michael was talking to Steven a moment ago, but if they came for something, they either found it-"

"Or realized they weren't going to." Liam shrugged slightly as they all took a moment to wonder which was true.

Fallon forced herself to relax, but it didn't stop the frown that came over her face. "Well. I guess we'll have to wait and see. But I'm sure Anders and the staff will do a check after this is over to be sure nothing was taken. So, we're done for tonight." She turned to Liam, stiff and dismissive in her lingering embarrassment. "You can go home."

His jaw clenched beneath his mask before he turned to Kirby. "Can you give us a minute?"

In her surprise, Kirby just nodded and walked off, leaving them alone. And Fallon, being the woman she was, she just couldn't help herself. "For someone who never wanted to see me again, you sure are doing a great job of ensuring that you have to. What do you want, Liam?"

"I want to protect my mother, and my aunt, and the rest of my family. I want to protect the people we employ, who will lose their jobs if Ada gets her hands on CA. But I also want to be very clear about something. You've changed since we met. I'm sure you can see that. The old Fallon would've given nothing away at all, but whether it's because of what you said at the lodge, or the fact that you know I'm right, you're being extremely open tonight. And I sort of appreciate that, considering everything we've said and everything that's been kept secret over the past several months... but I don't think your head is in the right place."

"Excuse me?" She stood up a little straighter, affronted.

"Everything about this situation is personal. I know that. But you're not being your usual, obscenely clever self, Fallon. And I don't know why. We went into tonight with what seemed like zero plans, and instead of rescuing and correcting the one we had, you tried to just stop it. We'll get nowhere if you keep doing this." He looked down for a moment, clearing his throat with the obvious reluctance he felt about his next sentence. "I don't want to jump to conclusions, considering it's you we're talking about, but – after the whole you-hiring-me thing, it kind of feels like you're trying to put off proving what he's up to."

Fallon turned her head, considering it even as her distaste for the claim made itself known on her face. Was she? "I have no idea what you're talking about." Her gaze snapped back to him, tough as it was when they first met. "I saved us from a terrible and likely inevitable law suit, if not infinitely worse. You should be thanking me."

"Yeah... Well, I might have, if you'd been a bit quicker. In the time we spent arguing about it, she left. And I'd already put the tracker on her."

Her jaw dropped, but she quickly shook herself and regained some sort of composure. "I – That... is beyond terrible. You're just now telling me this?! Why didn't you bring it up before?"

"Well, we got a _little_ off topic," he replied, deadpan.

"Does Kirby know?"

"Yeah, we were coming out to tell you. She's going to keep an eye on the tracker."

"Which Ada can easily reverse engineer if she's got the type of team it seems she has. She'll know who's doing it faster than we'll even be able to locate her." Fallon shook her head firmly. "No. We should just turn it off."

"We made sure it wouldn't be tracked to this IP address. If she does try that, it'll bounce around all over the place."

"We? Since when do you and Kirby know anything about programming tech?"

Liam gave her a look that said quite plainly that she was being foolish. "CA has an incredible IT department. And they aren't about to ask questions of the boss's nephew."

She pursed her lips. Of course. That did make sense. With much less bite than before and, instead, a level of disappointment, Fallon said, "Then it sounds like the pair of you have this covered."

He shrugged. "I'm a writer. So I've read a lot of mysteries. But we don't need to worry about that part for now. Once we figure out where she's returned to, or at least where she takes the tracker to test it, then we'll have enough information to need your help again." She must have looked unconvinced, even with her mask still on, because he sighed and stepped forward a little. "I know you, Fal. Despite everything, I do. Things are different, now. You haven't mentioned your father once, despite mentioning that something bad has happened. And you broke things off with Culhane, Steven is home safe with Sam, and we're not-... My point is, you're still needed, even if you don't see it right in front of you."

Admittedly, his use of that nickname he'd started to use before things went bad was quite distracting. It allowed Fallon to recognize another little bubble of hope. Hope that maybe she could correct her mistakes, and be loyal to him as she should've been. As he had been for her.

Liam, at least to Fallon's ears, was saying that he needed her. And that banished any anger or hurt from her mind.

"Okay," she agreed, nodding firmly. "Then, I'll let you know when Kirby comes to a conclusion?"

"Well, if she doesn't stop somewhere until after the party's over."

"Right."

Silence fell between them, and in some ways, it wasn't entirely uncomfortable. He was looking at her expectantly, and much to her own surprise, Fallon broke eye contact first, pretending to brush something off of her skirt. She still heard his heavy sigh, though.

"There's nothing we can do about it for now, Fallon. Come on."

She looked up to find that his hand was extended towards her in a shocking offering. She blinked at it for a moment before dropping her hand into his as though it were perfectly normal and nor surprising at all. She wasn't going to pretend she didn't want him, after all. Not anymore. That old smile of his made a brief appearance when his fingers gently curled around her own, leading her hand into the crook of his elbow. The smile from his mother's house, and the twenties party. The one from the hallway, when they kissed for the first time.

It was a great start, if nothing else at all.

An easy, familiar smirk pulled at her lips as he led her back inside. They passed by where she expected them to be headed – towards the alcohol. Instead, Liam brought her through the study and back into the living room-turned-dance floor. Fallon lifted her chin a little as they walked straight past Culhane, but she had to hold back her surprise as Liam kept going, only stopping when they were in the middle of the dance floor.

"What are you doing?" She asked him quietly, openly confused.

He held his free hand out for hers, ready to draw her into a partnered dancing position. "Acting casual?"

Skeptical though she was, it was best to just go along with it instead of making some kind of scene. Especially with Michael potentially watching on. So she stepped forward enough to match his stance, her arms shaping gracefully as she took his hand and lifted her other to his shoulder. She'd avoided ever doing this with him before. It had felt a little too personal, too intimate. Agreeing to this felt like conceding and sharing a bed with him, or – oddly, a little like the way he had held her hand at her grandfather's funeral when no one else would have. He had always been there, a steady presence – the leader in the dance they'd been doing for so long, even despite Fallon's attempt to claim that role for herself.

"Fallon."

She blinked, lifting her chin to meet his eyes. Oh. She hadn't moved when he tried to fall into step with those around them. "Sorry," she murmured, nodding to show that she was ready this time.

He cracked a smile again. "Just relax. It's only a dance."

She wished it weren't true, but he was right. So she let him direct her, trusting him to stop her if she got too close to anyone. But if she were being honest with herself, the fact that she couldn't seem to break eye contact, ad couldn't seem to think of anything to say... it felt like more. It felt like they were slowly inching closer, their hands cautiously sliding across the other's shoulder or back, respectively.

Fallon very nearly made up her mind to just take a step closer, and to curl her fingers pointedly around the back of his neck – but the song came to an end and the people around them stopped, chatter lifting into the air as those guests decided to leave the floor or dance the next song as well. Neither she nor Liam moved, at first. But then the hand she'd set on his shoulder fidgeted slightly and he took a sharp step back, as if catching himself in something he didn't want to be doing.

She released him instantly, mirroring his reaction so they stood with a couple of feet of tense, empty air between them.

"Sorry, I can't-" he began, only for Fallon to cut him off with a bright and very fake smile.

"Don't worry about it. I've had worse dance partners. Some that stepped on my feet, even."

Liam frowned at her, shaking his head. "That's not what I meant."

"I know."

He took a moment, then nodded. She was giving him the out he'd asked for, though he'd only just realized it.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I should go check on Steven anyway. If anything comes up, I'll have Kirby call you."

Then she turned away, frustrated and embarrassed. This yo-yo feeling was driving her crazy. Was that how he'd felt before she cut him off? Guilt turned her stomach over as she began making her way through the dancing crowd to find her brother. And that time she didn't even look for a drink on the way.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted March 25, 2019. Continuing to transfer this over from ff.net. I'm not checking right now for typos; just moving the chapters over so I can continue with the sequel as requested <3  
> Will edit later on as needed.

The guests had almost all left by the time Sam managed to feel like he could take a break. Steven had been stressed out all night, which meant Sam was as well. There was a lot he still didn't know about Steven's time away, and though he wasn't going to push anything, it was killing him that he didn't understand all of the things that were hurting his husband. They didn't feel close anymore, and considering the divorce papers that Steven swore later on didn't mean anything, Sam wasn't sure what to think. It scared him, mostly.

But as he left the kitchen, thanking Anders over his shoulder, he heard it. Across from where Sam came to a stop in what was usually the dining room, and on the other side of the living area, he saw Steven seated at the piano, playing a soft tune. Sitting beside him, their masks off, Fallon hummed along. Each of her notes was clearly supposed to represent a word from whatever they were playing. Sam didn't recognize it, but he approached anyway, pulling up a chair nearby.

Steven kept playing but Fallon turned her head to look at Sam, smiling a little sadly. They were both glad he was back, but it didn't feel like they really had him back. Not any way besides physically. They were happy to give him the time he needed, though. Of course they were.

A call of Fallon's name had them all looking behind them and towards the rapid footsteps bounding down the stairs, then into the room. Kirby was there, looking anxious. "I need your help," she claimed.

"Are you okay?" Steven asked, shifting on the piano bench to face his other half-sister a little more fully. As Kirby looked at Fallon, and as Fallon stood up to help her, Steven almost felt happy with their strange family dynamic. The two women were sort of getting along now, which was a mercy regardless of why it had happened.

"It's- girl stuff," Kirby told them, scrunching up her face dramatically. Sam held his hands up in distaste and a quick laugh escaped before she grabbed Fallon's arm. "Sorry. Have a good time, uh, playing or whatever."

Kirby started leading Fallon away, but once they were out of sight, Fallon pulled her hand back and frowned at her. "Unnecessary," she chided, shaking her hand as though Kirby's grip had been painful or unpleasant.

"It's important. You need to get changed so we can go," Kirby explained as she led Fallon upstairs and towards her bedroom.

"Go?"

Confused, Kirby tilted her head. "I got the location, I think. She's been there for over an hour, now."

Fallon almost had to laugh at how eager Kirby was, but a bit of the amusement also came from how much danger they would be in if they actually went to the location in question right away. "Well, we can tell him we found something, but we shouldn't go until we think she might be elsewhere, right? If she has some kind of... guard, or team, then that's far too risky."

"So when are we doing this?"

"I don't think we should, until we know what the location entails or at least until we have some sort of protection."

They stopped outside Fallon's door, but Kirby's confusion only seemed to grow. "What kind of protection?" Her voice dropped a little. "Like, a gun? We have those downstairs."

"Well, if anyone knows how to handle one of those, it's probably just me. And I already have one. So that's covered. But we should check the place out, at least." Fallon crossed her arms, thinking it over. "If someone saw us, or if she has cameras, she'd know it's me after tonight. Who could we get to go stake the place out?"

"... My dad would probably do it," Kirby pointed out. "If he knows it's to protect the family, he'd do it."

"What would I do?"

The two women turned, only half surprised to see Anders coming down the hallway towards them, removing a pair of cleaning gloves as he walked.

\-------------------------------------

The next day, Fallon and Kirby went to lunch at a cafe on the Northeast end of downtown Atlanta, treating it like a casual brunch between two friends. But unlike a usual brunch, Fallon wasn't sipping away at mimosas or half-sarcastically contemplating taking a selfie before ruining her lipstick. Instead, both of them were eyeing their phones on and off, unusually quiet even for the two of them.

As soon as a call or text came in from Anders, they would know what they were up against.

Kirby was getting a little bored and impatient, though, so she leaned back in her chair, eyeing Fallon curiously. "So, are you going to tell me what happened after I left you two outside last night, or no?"

The sharp gaze that landed on Kirby was, admittedly, intimidating.

"I guess that's a no," she muttered, frowning. "I'm just trying to be a friend, Fallon."

The brunette sighed, surprising Kirby further when she nodded. "Yeah, I know. But, honestly, I'm not sure what happened." When her friend sat forward, Fallon lifted her eyes skyward and tried to figure out how to explain. "He was... nice, for starters."

"Of course he was! It's Liam."

"I'm aware, thanks. But I don't like how well he can read me."

Kirby shook her head. "Yes you do. It isn't the same, but think about me and Sam. We get each other, and for a while, I didn't have that at all. I made sure I wouldn't. And now you've got someone who wants to know you better than anyone, even if you're not expecting him to."

"Except when he did finally get to know me," Fallon countered, "he decided I was too much, just like everybody else."

Catching herself, Fallon held up a hand to cut off the beginnings of Kirby's reaction. She pushed her chair back and reached for her phone.

"Fallon-"

"I need to take a walk."

"In those heels? C'mon, don't go. Just hear me out. Please."

It took a moment of inner conflict, but Fallon tried to play off the way she scooted her chair back in as just adjusting her skirt. "What, then?" She asked.

"Whatever happened at the ski lodge, which – yes, I do take partial credit for," she added quickly at Fallon's frown. "You just have to remember that you're the one that told him no. He wanted you to go with him before that and you chose not to. So can you blame him for defending himself? I've seen you do the same sort of thing quite often."

"He told me he was happy the way he was. With Ashley. And maybe it was a lie or maybe it wasn't, but I promised myself I'd leave him alone. But then he comes over to offer me a job because of Culhane, and he's saying how he needs my help, and then the dancing.." Fallon reached a hand up to rub at her temple, an early headache coming on.

"Back up," Kirby requested, looking just as confused. "Why would he say those things, or dance with you – you should have told me about that, by the way – if he's happy with her."

A moment of silence fell between them, making Kirby wonder if she'd missed something huge or if Fallon and Liam were just both a little too crazy to ever understand. But then Fallon spoke up again, explaining, "He broke up with her after the bar fight."

The redhead flew forward in her seat, amazed and leaning over the table to stare at Fallon. "What?! When did you find out? Girl, why don't you tell me any of the interesting things?!"

"He told me last night. But he didn't want to talk about it."

It took a moment for Fallon to even register the grin that was growing across Kirby's face, but when she did, she was almost ready to leave again. It wasn't like that was exceptionally great news, considering everything else. Then Kirby started laughing. Laughing! Fallon couldn't believe it.

"Oh, Fallon," Kirby said between her chuckles. "He didn't want to talk about it, and then said he needed you, and danced with you. And you're clearly worked up about it. Don't lose hope. Maybe he just wants to move past the drama! I can't blame him. Just continue to be what he needs, alright? It'll be fine."

Kirby looked down, picking up her phone when it buzzed. They both expected it to be information from Anders, but Kirby's face fell instead.

"What?"

"He said there's nothing there. Nobody. Just the tracker."

"She found it," Fallon mused, trying very hard not to go all I-told-you-so on her. "Let Liam know, then."

"Well, Dad said he would've looked longer but he got some weird news from Blake and had to go back to the manor. Sounds important."

Sighing heavily, Fallon gathered her phone, dropped down money for the bill – with almost too much of a tip on top of that – and they set off.

\-------------------------------------

The front door opened, upon Kirby and Fallon's return, to a confusing sight. Nothing seemed to be wrong besides the fact that everyone else – Anders, Blake, Cristal, Steven, Sam and even Alexis – had gathered in the chairs that had been returned to the living room since the night before.

"What's going on?" Kirby asked quietly as they approached, taking Fallon's lack of response as a sign that they were probably better off just heading over to see what the story was.

When they joined the others, Fallon stopped short in shock. They were all facing someone she hadn't been able to see from farther away, with the dividing table and towering plant blocking their view. Kirby looked to Fallon in question, but Fallon had already recovered, casually striding forward to stand opposite the intruder.

"Fallon," Alexis began, her voice almost shaking with nerves and seeming-excitement. "We've found someone who thinks they know what happened to Hank."

"He left," Fallon countered. "I can't blame him." Her disapproving gaze landed heavily on Ada, though she tried to keep back her ire. "Most of us have considered it at some point or another, haven't we?"

Ada's smile was sympathetic, and almost sweet. Fallon hated it. "I understand the confusion, of course. I would never have known your family needed help were it not for a member of your staff."

"Really? Which one?"

Fallon offered a fake smile of her own after asking, annoyed when Blake held up a hand to quiet her. "Enough," he said firmly. "We have proof, now, that Hank has stolen from us. He isn't who we thought he was."

It was impossible to keep from rolling her eyes. "Of course he isn't Adam. Sure, we all wanted to believe he was, or that Adam's even still out there, but we all dove into his story far too quickly." She waved a hand at Ada, though. "Why are we listening to anything this woman has to say? Who are you?"

"I do some PI work, but when I'm not looking into a particular investigation, I prefer to assist with legal, family matters."

"Of course you do."

Ada sat forward a bit, directing her gaze back and forth between Blake and Alexis, trying to make sure she held their attention more than Fallon could. "There is something more, which I'd hoped to tell all of you at once. So this seems like the perfect opportunity. You see, I was actually a guest of one of your party invitees, last night. As I was leaving, a young man stopped our car, claiming he had been turned away despite being a Carrington himself."

Fallon scoffed, dropping into a seat on the couch next to Steven and Sam. But Ada wasn't finished.

"I haven't had much time to look into it just yet, and equally, I was not sure that you would want me to. I could not get him into the party, particularly when a claim like that could be so unfounded-"

"-Thank you," Blake said, nodding as he took Cristal's hand protectively.

Cristal looked down at her lap, agreeing. "We have had a lot going on lately, so it is better to be safe than sorry, it seems."

"Yes," Ada said with an empathetic frown. "I did hear about that. I'm very sorry." No one seemed able to reply, so she pushed ahead. "I mainly came to ask if you would like to meet the man I met. He may be wrong, of course, but there is a chance, isn't there? We wouldn't have to do it here," she added, upon glancing over and noticing the general distaste at the idea. "It could just be you two," Ada gestured to Blake and Alexis.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Alexis replied warily, sitting a little further back in her chair like she could sink into it for safety. "Besides, the DNA results were clear. Hank is our son. This man couldn't be Adam."

"It's possible to fake those," Ada pointed out. "But if you don't want to know him, I can tell him to return home to Montana."

"No," Blake replied quickly. "I'll meet him. If he came from that far, he's either crazy or genuine. It's best to find out which one is true before anything has a chance to get out of hand."

Ada stood, handing Blake her business card. "I will get in touch with him and we can arrange a time to meet when it is convenient for you."

\-------------------------------------

Standing in her father's office, her foot tapping away, Fallon and her fury were impossible to miss. But Blake was doing a very good job of ignoring her, even after nearly an hour of her trying to convince him that Ada wasn't trustworthy. There wasn't a lot she could say, though, without telling him what had happened with Max. With the blackmail, with Michael. Even with Jeff. There was too much to cover, and too much at stake – and not just for her. If Blake knew, there would be no end to his frustration, not only with them but with the Van Kirks as well.

Okay, so maybe part of her reluctance had to do with protecting Liam, too. But she was trying to do what she thought she had to, so she definitely felt like she deserved a little credit on that front.

Apparently, however, Blake had reached his boiling point. He stood up behind his desk, slamming his hands on the top of it hard enough to make Fallon jump, her arms uncrossing and falling to her sides. "Enough! I have been through more than enough lately, what with you, Sam and Steven taking time for yourselves in Paris, leaving me to deal with your mother as well as to support Cristal on my own. We need a good turn around here. Even Steven is a mess, still, though at this point I'm not surprised. When this kid turns out to be Adam – or even if he doesn't – I expect you to be completely supportive."

"I'll be the first to break out the champagne, I promise," she drawled.

"You better be."

"Why don't I come with you to meet him?"

"Absolutely not. You will not ruin this for me."

She was almost taken aback. Almost. "I wouldn't-"

"-Drop it, Fallon."

His tone made it clear: he was dismissing her. Fallon, still bristling, stormed out, pulling her phone from her pocket. She very nearly dialed Liam straight away, but then remembered that she'd assured him Kirby would be the one to reach out if something came up. This counted as 'something,' didn't it?

But when she located Kirby and the call was placed, he asked to speak to her anyway. That came after several confused-sounding responses from the redhead, though, so Fallon was cautious as she took the phone to answer it with a nonchalant, "Yes?"

"Maybe this is a good thing in disguise," he said first.

"Excuse me? You think that letting her get close to my father is good? How?"

"If she keeps coming by the house, there will be more opportunities for us to follow her."

Fallon knew he had a point, but, "The tracker didn't work. She found it and left it to throw us off."

"I know," Liam agreed. "But there are only two reasons she'd be doing this. To get someone into the house, on the inside and able to mess with your family further – or to distract us from what's happening at CA. We have to get ahead of her, right?"

"Cover all of our bases," she nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "Fine. But what happens if it comes back that this guy really is Adam? It wouldn't matter how much he did to us, Dad would never believe anything bad of them. He's been through so much-"

"You keep saying that, but I have no idea what you mean."

Fallon sighed, stepping away from Kirby for some semblance of privacy, even though she didn't really have any. "Cristal got pregnant, but her ex thought there was a chance the baby could be his. Only, someone showed up and shot her ex-husband, and Cristal fell off of the horse she was riding at the time. They- they lost the baby. And after losing Adam-"

"He didn't take it well," Liam mused. "I'm sorry to hear that. A shooter, though?"

"Dad said he found out who it was, but didn't want to share. Oddly, I almost didn't even question it after everything else that's happened."

She heard Liam's sigh, one that matched exactly how she felt about it. "Look, I'll talk to the security team at CA to make sure Ada can't get access to the building, but if she comes in with a disguise, there's no guarantees. I'm sure she knows by now that you're across the hall from Michael, so hopefully that would deter her somewhat."

"Why can we never get a leg up on this woman?" Fallon complained, exasperated. Looking over at Kirby, she saw that she wasn't the only frustrated one. Kirby looked like she was practically ready to stand guard outside CA herself, considering the aggression on her face. Fallon still didn't understand Kirby's desire to be so protective, but perhaps finding a family after so long could do that to a person. It was just a shame she'd found the Carringtons instead of a more normal one.

"We'll figure this out, okay?" Liam replied, sounding far more confident than Fallon thought any of them had the right to be. "You always figure out everything else, and you're not alone this time," he assured her. "This time-"

"-We have Jeff," she gasped, turning fully around to face Kirby, eyes wide with her realization.

"What?" Both Liam and Kirby asked.

"Liam, we have to go. Remember Monica's club?" When he confirmed that he did, she felt a grin break out across her face. "Meet us there as soon as you can. We'll head over now."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted March 26, 2019

Liam pulled up outside the club a few minutes after Fallon and Kirby did, and hopped out of his car to go inside and look for them. The women were already talking to Monica and Jeff – the latter of which looked almost gleeful.

"There you are!" Fallon said, turning her head and spotting him as he walked over. She pulled up a chair next to hers so he could sit down and join the conversation.

Jeff waited until Liam sat, then gave him a mildly disapproving look before turning to Fallon. Liam couldn't really blame him, considering the whole wedding thing. But they all knew he'd helped save Fallon and Jeff from a truly shocking turn of events. "So you're saying," Jeff began, "that if we do this, it will ruin both Ada and Culhane?"

"Well," Fallon replied judiciously, "that depends."

"Hold on," Liam held a hand up to interrupt them. "You want to tell everyone what they've done?"

Fallon turned her head slowly to look at him, ignoring the curious looks coming from Kirby and Monica. "It's fine," she told him, her whole body tense and her tone almost warning.

"No, it's not." Her eyes narrowed but he continued anyway. "If we do that, you'll be ruined as well."

Fallon cleared her throat. "Not as much as your uncle."

"Somebody better start explaining," Monica said, clearly irritated to have been left out of the loop for so long. "What did you do, Fallon?"

"Nothing! I- I had to, um-"

Liam leaned forward, anger clouding his features. "My uncle tried to blackmail her into sleeping with him. She obviously didn't want to do that," he confirmed upon seeing their shock and horror – even from Jeff. "So she had someone go in to... Well, take her place, I guess? But regardless of why they were there, he had a heart attack... And he didn't make it."

"But this was after he'd told his wife that _I_ was the one who made a pass at him," Fallon sighed, trying to pretend that she hadn't turned a little red at the recap.

"So," Liam finished, explaining to the others, "if we tell people everything, not only will they not necessarily believe us, but then my family will come after Fallon again, and even if they don't, the company's reputation will be up in smoke, which is exactly what we're trying to avoid."

Monica crossed one leg over the other, looking between the two of them with a blatantly calculating look. "What can we give away without them going after her?"

"They've got everything, Mon. On all of us," Jeff explained, shaking his head.

Fallon waved a hand. "I'm fine, really. They'll attack me first, and I can handle it."

"Fallon," Liam said, tone warning.

Finally feeling a little bit more caught up, Kirby tried to make a point that she doubted Fallon had fully come to terms with. "I find it a little hard to believe that, if they say that something happened with his uncle, and then his wife says you started it... I mean, listen, I wish it weren't true, but the odds are they'll side with her, not you."

Fallon lifted her chin, defiant almost just for the sake of her pride. "I don't care what strangers think of me," she claimed, ignoring everyone's looks of pure disbelief, "and moreover, I can handle it. I can fix it. And we can prove that everything Ada did is far more important than what they thought I'd done."

Liam reached out to her upper arm, shaking his head as she looked over at him. "You told me he left you a key, right? So the apartment building knew he was expecting you. And whoever was there in your place, Ada either paid her off or sent them herself, because otherwise she wouldn't have known all the details enough to blackmail both you and her."

Angry, though not with Liam, Fallon lifted both hands in an unusually large and upset shrug. "How long am I going to be trapped by her, then, Liam?! Forever?"

Monica started talking, but Fallon only half heard the words because in response to her outburst, Liam had taken her hand to try and calm her down.

"If somebody is going to take this woman down," Monica was saying, "it sounds like it either has to be a stranger, who is not at all associated with you, or it has to be someone on the inside."

Jeff frowned. "Culhane."

Fallon's discomfort only deepened as she realized just how completely bizarre her life had become. Granted, it wasn't a new realization. On the contrary, it was more like a recurring nightmare that became progressively worse as time went on. Her eyes lifted to Liam, only mildly surprised to find him looking back. How utterly strange that the one man she could say had broken her heart was the one she'd married, yet he was also the one she had somehow managed to take it slow with. Apart from that one time, of course. If she could've gone back and done the whole Divorce Party night differently, Fallon felt sure she would've taken the opportunity and not looked back even once.

Liam didn't smile like she expected, but he gave her an encouraging nod, squeezing her hand a little tighter. And that was better, somehow, than that smile she loved so much. It spoke to his confidence in her, or at least an assurance of some kind that he wouldn't just leave her to deal with this alone. But a quiet voice in the back of her mind reminded her that they both knew she didn't deserve it. Not from him.

That thought made her drop her gaze to the floor, but it somehow earned her another gentle squeeze from Liam. "Maybe you should just focus on your family until we can figure out what to do about this. Otherwise you'll just drive yourself crazy with it."

"That's not exactly how Fallon Carrington operates," Monica pointed out, serious despite the slight smile on her lips.

"This time," Kirby spoke up, "it may have to be."

\---------------------

Kirby decided to hang back a little as their conversation wrapped up, taking a cue from the way Liam worked to draw Fallon aside. So as she struck up conversation with Jeff, Liam waited for Fallon to turn towards him.

"I'm serious, Fal," he began. "You need to drop this for a little while. Just focus on work. On helping your family."

She scoffed, looking away, but didn't explain. Voicing aloud the fact that she doubted her family wanted her help, either, felt like she was just fishing for the same comments she received the night before. Maybe Liam thought those things were true, but every time an opportunity came up for him to be proven right, he was proven wrong instead.

His hands slid into his trouser pockets as he watched her, then shook his head. "Fine. You can keep torturing yourself over this if you want to. I clearly can't stop you from doing anything you've got yourself set on. But if you decide to try and pull something on her, you've got to let me or Kirby know. I'm serious, here. I'm not going to let this go – I'm not going to let her get away with anything. Not anymore. But I think you need to take a step back."

"And what about the next time Ada walks into my house, bringing some fake Adam into our lives and winning my father's trust?"

"Then you tell me. And we come up with a plan. It's not complicated, you know. Patience doesn't seem to be one of your stronger abilities, but I promise you can pull it off if you try."

Yet again, she found her stomach turning over with the pain of something he'd said to her. Not because he was intending to be more hurtful than teasing – or she didn't think so, anyway – but because what he said was true. He knew her exceptionally well for someone she'd tried to keep at an arm's length or even further.

"Fine," she said cooly, holding back her temper for his sake. "I'll see you at work, then, maybe."

And with that, she turned to walk over to Kirby, grabbing her arm much in the way Kirby had taken Fallon's after the party, and dragged the redhead towards the front door. Liam stared after them, and as Fallon pulled it open and gestured for Kirby to go first, he managed to catch sight of the moment when her face fell, revealing just how confused and lost she felt.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted March 27, 2019

Kirby hadn't seen Fallon for days. On the other hand, she'd seen a lot of the other Carringtons. Blake had arranged to meet the new, potential Adam, and come home on a sort of emotional high that no one expected. Kirby was sitting in the dining room with Steven and Cristal when he came in, striding up to them with a huge grin on his face.

"It's him!" Blake declared, winding an arm around Cristal as he sank into the chair next to her.

"What?" Steven asked, brow furrowed. "Who?"

"Adam. It's him."

Cristal turned in her chair to stare at him in surprise. "Are you sure? That's incredible."

Blake nodded, relaxing in his chair as his excitement started to level out to something more generally pleased and confident. "Everything lines up. The story, the DNA results-"

Kirby spoke up, though a little hesitantly in her desire to avoid Blake's irritation if she overstepped. "But what about Hank's tests?"

"He was spending a lot of time around us. He could've gathered something from myself or Alexis and made it look legitimate," Blake shrugged, seeming shockingly fine with the idea, particularly given that they now had proof of him stealing from them.

"Does Alexis know?" Cristal asked, taking Blake's hand in both of hers. He shook his head, so she pushed her chair back to try and pull him up. "You should go tell her, then. Come on."

Kirby's attention shifted to Steven as Blake and Cristal left, surprised by his silence after the news broke. He was sort of staring off into space, and her concern led her to lean towards him on her elbows. "Hey."

He looked up, playing it cool. "Yeah?"

"You're not happy," she observed, frowning.

"Uh... Well, the last time we thought Adam had come back, things were a bit better. Not completely, but... they were different, y'know? It's just, I've always had this theory that, when it comes to me and Fallon, maybe we just were never going to be enough, because we could never be Adam. And maybe that's unfair to assume, but if it's true, then that's much worse than me just worrying about it."

Kirby's frown turned empathetic. She definitely understood that feeling; it just hadn't occurred to her that Steven or his sister could feel that way, too. "Does Fallon think that?"

"Probably," Steven shrugged, looking oddly like Blake for not being his son. "I can't tell if it's worse for her because she's a woman, or worse for me because I'm not the man Blake probably imagines he would've made Adam into."

She nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. For all of you. I wonder if this guy knows what he's getting into."

"We're pretty public," Steven pointed out, lifting his eyebrows to work in a little humor he clearly didn't really feel.

"Maybe once you and Sam feel a little more settled and comfortable, you two can finally get some real space. Maybe living outside of the manor again will give you a chance to breathe."

Considering that, he took a moment. "I'd like to. But Sam doesn't want to leave, and I just know that as soon as we do that again, something will go wrong. At least until the stuff with Adam settles, I don't think either of us will be packing our bags."

"Good," Fallon's voice reached them from the doorway. When they looked over, she was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and a worried look on her face. She must have just gotten home from her Tuesday meetings at CA. Kirby was a bit surprised to find that she looked rather normal despite her noticeable absence up until then.

Steven must have noticed as well, because he sat up straighter when he saw her. "Where've you been?"

"Working," she said, waving a dismissive hand.

"Where?" Steven asked, suddenly reminding Kirby and Fallon that they hadn't shared her new appointment with anyone else.

Fallon cleared her throat. "I was offered a job back at CA."

"Oh."

That uncomfortable piece of information aside, Fallon tried to get back to the topic at hand. "So Adam is official, again?"

"Sure seems that way," Kirby replied, careful not to sound too excited, or worried – or anything, really, as she wasn't sure how Fallon would react.

It was probably for the best that she was careful, of course, because a dark cloud came over the brunette's face. "Well, I can't even say I'm surprised at this point. How long until Dad moves him in?"

"Hours, probably," Steven offered, a commiserating smile on his face.

"This should be interesting," Fallon muttered, before turning and wandering off.

Once she seemed to be out of hearing range, Steven turned to look at Kirby again, his eyes clearly reading her even as she tried to appear nonchalant. "You knew she was working there again," he determined easily. "Why didn't she tell us?"

Kirby shifted uncomfortably in her seat, unsure how much trouble she would be in for telling him. But it was Steven, and Fallon loved Steven more than anyone, right? And vice versa. So if anybody was trustworthy and capable of keeping Fallon's secrets, wasn't it him?

"Umm. Well, Liam offered her a job."

Steven's surprise was obvious, though she thought for a moment that perhaps there was a bit of hope in his eyes as well. "Really? I mean, last I heard they were kind of in a fight."

Kirby shrugged, messing with her hair a bit as she worked to come up with an explanation that wasn't too incriminating for any of them. "Right, well... Sort of? I'm not sure they're past it, really. But the company needed help and I guess he thought she knew it better than anyone else he could reach out to."

Apparently buying that story completely, Steven nodded his understanding. "Makes sense. I wasn't involved much, but it always seemed like she put in the most work at CA. Not that anyone seemed to notice."

"I'm sure she would appreciate you saying so."

"I think she would rather hear it from Dad."

\-----------------------------------------

When Fallon came back downstairs for dinner that night, the table had an extra setting prepared. So Adam was showing up mere hours after the announcement of his legitimacy. Concerned and unimpressed, Fallon immediately knew she was going to make it her mission to play protector for her family. And she also knew that it was not going to go over well. Not in the slightest.

Still, she strode towards the kitchen, eyes open for someone she didn't recognize. She didn't expect to run into them straight away.

The man came around the corner carrying a couple of glasses, setting them out on the table before he noticed her. When he did, he stopped short, a smile coming over his face that Fallon instantly knew she couldn't trust.

"You must be Fallon," he said, far too casual and informal for her to even want to take him seriously. When he stepped around the table to offer a hand in greeting, she just stared down at the hand instead of taking it. That just made him smile more. He dropped his hand back to his side. "I'm Adam. Well, I've just found out that I am."

She lifted an eyebrow, taking a moment to consider how she wanted to handle this. But then, "And how did you find out who you were?"

"Well, like I told your- our father, my adoptive mother told me on her deathbed." He hurried to explain when she looked exceptionally unconvinced. "She overdosed a few months ago. After that, I started looking into where I came from, and a woman named-"

"Ada?"

"Right," he nodded. "She told me she could arrange for a DNA test if Blake wanted to meet."

"Of course she did," Fallon nodded, stepping to the side with the intention of walking around him and towards the kitchen.

But he stuck a hand out right as she brushed past him, catching her arm and making her jerk to a stop in her surprise. When she looked at him, Fallon was completely put off by how close he was standing – and worse, how close his face was to hers.

"I know it might take some time for you to warm up to me, Fallon. But we're family. Eventually you'll see that."

She narrowed her eyes, getting in one last jab before yanking her arm away. "There is a difference between being genetically similar, and actually being a family. We Carringtons don't really do family."

Then she stormed into the kitchen, ready to tell her father off. But as soon as she saw how happy Blake was, she found that she couldn't do it. The moment she made any claims against this new Adam, Fallon knew she would be in for it. Until she could actually prove anything, it wasn't worth starting a fight. But that didn't mean she had to be super nice to the guy, either.

Sam walked over to her, standing close enough that they could speak under their breath about it. "You meet him?" He asked.

Fallon nodded. "What does Steven think?"

Sam shrugged. "He looked really confused when he saw him, actually. But he didn't explain."

She let out a quiet _hmm_ but could only come up with, "Well, I'll ask him about it later if we don't have a knock-down, drag-out fight during dinner." His concern led her to lift her hand, patting his upper arm gently. "Don't worry too much, okay? You're more family to us than this guy ever could be."

Though he looked bolstered by her assurances, he still reached out to pick up a glass of wine where it sat on the opposite counter, ready to be taken out to the dining table. Anders passed him a disapproving look, but he just frowned apologetically in return.

There was a bit more milling about, but everyone eventually made it to the table, with Adam sitting himself in Fallon's usual chair without asking. She bit back her disapproval, instead sitting opposite her father at the other end of the table, in both a power play as well as a pointed choice that she hoped would be noticed by Blake. Of course, as she predicted, he seemed oblivious. He was too busy talking to Adam about his entire life, apparently, and Fallon found herself listening intently even though she didn't engage.

By the time they started cleaning up, she was more than ready to go upstairs and let Liam know she'd been right all along. It would be easier to tell him via text than at the office the next morning, and he had told her to let him know if anything changed with Adam. What kind of debt was her father in for Ada bringing him home, she wondered?

Fallon pushed her chair back and went upstairs without preamble, only stopping when she reached the door to her room because she heard footsteps behind her.

"Sorry," Adam said once she looked over at him. "I don't remember which room I'm supposed to be using."

Fallon could only assume he was being put up in the guest room, once used for the original Cristal's sister when she had come to visit. She pointed a couple of doors down from her own, silently watching him as he nodded his thanks and walked past to let himself inside. She waited until his door closed before she opened her own and went in, closing and locking her door behind her.

Once she flopped onto her bed, she lifted her phone above her face to type out a quick, vague text to Liam: _I was right. He's staying._

She set her phone down to get ready for bed and prepare her outfit for the next morning, as she felt sure that she would be kept awake with her thoughts and theories about Adam, Ada and Michael. After showering, drying her hair most of the way, and then putting in overnight rollers, she pulled on pajamas and finished up her nighttime bathroom routine.

By the time she made it back out and slipped beneath the covers, a reply was waiting for her.

**Of course you were. You're always right. Let's talk about it tomorrow?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted March 28, 2019

Really, she had no reason to think as much, but it certainly seemed like Adam had been waiting for her to leave her room that next morning. A few moments after she closed and locked hers (just in case, she told herself), she reached the top of the stairs and he opened his door, leaving it open behind him as he followed her downstairs. Fallon tried to pretend she didn't see him, aiming for the kitchen.

But as she stepped off the bottom stair and turned around towards the promising smell of breakfast, he called out a casual, "Morning, Sis."

She stopped short, her jaw tight with her effort to hold back a scowl. Though she considered telling him not to call her that, or that she was not, in fact, his sis, she said nothing at all. Instead, she just made her way to the kitchen and picked something up to take with her.

Fallon turned back around, aiming for the front door, and nearly jumped when she realized Adam was standing right behind her, blocking the exit into the dining room. "What?" She snapped, eyes narrowing.

"You sure are in a rush," he mused, tilting his head slightly.

"And you're coming off like more and more of a stalker every time that I see you," she replied, gesturing with her free hand for him to move aside. He did, but only enough to allow her to squeeze past, her shoulder brushing against his.

Something about that contact, no matter how small, made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She picked up the pace, hurrying out the front door to get into the car and leave for the office.

\--------------------------------

Liam stood when Fallon walked into his office, just doing so instinctively. He'd half thought it was his mother coming through the door, but he waited for her to say something - and when she instead closed the door and strode over to drop into the seat across from him without explanation, Liam slowly sat back down.

"What's wrong?" He asked somewhat cautiously.

"My new _brother_ is a complete creep," she declared, her shoulders shaking a little, as though she were trying to brush Adam off. "But what's worse, Dad's already moved him in, and at dinner they kept talking about how helpful Ada was. I don't know what she thinks she's getting out of this whole thing, or how it helps Michael. Maybe it doesn't. But Jeff was right; we can't do anything about her."

Liam frowned, sitting back a bit in his chair as he tried to decide whether or not it was worth suggesting what he had started to believe over the past couple of days. In the end, he figured he had to voice it. "Maybe we should just... drop this completely."

"What?"

He sighed, bracing himself for the oncoming battle this would inevitably be. "I mean, she hasn't actually done anything to us. If anything, she's helped your father, and reunited your family."

Fallon shook her head fervently. "No, that's what she would want us to think, Liam. Don't you get it? They must know I'm watching Culhane, so what better way to distract me than by placing a stranger in our home and making him mess with me?"

"Mess with you?"

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "He just has this really bizarre vibe. I had to brush past him today and got the most disconcerting feeling. I don't think he's here for a family reunion. It feels like something different. Something bad."

"Listen, if he makes you uncomfortable, then I'd say you need to trust your gut on that one. But do you really believe that Michael would come after you like this?"

"Yes," she confirmed without hesitation. "He put me and my family at risk, and that's when we were still engaged. Ada offered him the blackmail she had on me and he kept working with her anyway, only to come home and act like nothing was wrong. And even after I called off the wedding, he took a job with my father despite knowing how that would hurt me. We don't even have proof that Ada got rid of everything she had."

Liam stood up again, walking around the desk to lean back against it, still facing her but closer, now. He wanted to make his point without her having any excuse not to listen. "Fallon. I believe you. I always have, remember? If you think that the company is at risk, then I need you to tell me what you want me to do."

She considered for a moment before frowning. "I'm not sure you can do what I want done."

He just waited, sure that she was probably right but trying to get her to at least tell him her desired plan.

"I think we need to fire him. Send him back to Atlantix, I don't care what. But as long as he's here, Ada has a chance to do something that will threaten your family's livelihood, and my family name."

"Have you ever thought about giving up the family name and living your own life?"

"You mean like you did," she said, almost challengingly.

"Yeah," he conceded. "For a while, I was just free."

Fallon let one corner of her mouth lift in a disbelieving smile. "That's not true. You always worried about your mom. And you wouldn't have risked getting locked in with me if you were so pleased with your life of freedom."

Liam finally broke eye contact, looking down at his hands where they were clasped atop one of his knees. "I don't know about that, Fal."

The quiet that came over his office was one of tension, but maybe also a hint of regret. Liam couldn't tell. He certainly felt it, at least. Realizing that she wasn't going to respond to that, he stood up and started pacing for lack of a better idea. "Listen, I know you don't want to walk away from your family. And that's fine. But you risk infinitely more than they realize, and never get anything in return. I'll do what I can about Culhane, but he's under contract. Convincing them to break it will take some effort, or a big mistake on his part."

"Now that," she replied, tone brighter and more determined, "I can certainly make happen."

\-------------------------------

A knock sounded from the other side of Michael's door about an hour and a half into the work day. When he stood to answer it, it swung back to reveal a teary-eyed Fallon, who looked both distraught but also ashamed to be seen by him when she was like that. Though she may have thought it of him, he wasn't heartless or anything. As wrong as she had done him, he didn't love seeing her this way.

"Something happen?" He asked, brow furrowing.

She nodded, her eyes darting up and down the hallway in embarrassment. But she didn't ask to be let in. So he stepped back to silently offer it. Fallon lifted her chin slightly, sniffling quietly, before she walking in, heading straight for the chair opposite his own.

Michael walked around her after closing the door, sitting on top of his desk in a stance that was a little too like Liam for Fallon's tastes. "What's going on?" He had his suspicions, of course, but she couldn't know that.

Fallon twisted her hands in her lap, staring down at them. "I don't know what I'm doing, anymore." She brushed her hair back a little when it drifted in front of her face. "Sorry, I know you shouldn't have to listen to any of this. But I'm sort of... on the outs, at home. I don't have anyone else."

"What did you do?"

Fallon lifted her chin sharply, eyes narrowed at him despite the tears. There she was. He felt way more comfortable with that side of Fallon than this new, sad one. "Dad found the real Adam, apparently. I don't trust him at all, though. He's... strange. Not like we are, that is. He's just-" she shuddered slightly, making him frown even more deeply in his confusion. "Anyway, I didn't want Dad to look into this, after Hank and after he found out about the baby, and-"

"Baby?"

Fallon tilted her head in confusion, but some sort of realization came over her and she turned her head down in apparent shame, reaching a hand up to brush at her cheek.

"Fallon," he said, firmer that time. "Are you-?"

She stood abruptly, waving her hands as if to say she couldn't handle the discussion anymore. Michael reached towards her as she spun around, but couldn't stop her as she rushed for the door, clearly distraught.

"Fallon!"

The door opened and slammed shut behind her. He followed, but her own door was closing just as he opened his to go after her.

Safe in her office, Fallon drew her phone out of her pocket, turning on the front-facing camera to check if her makeup had started to run. Thankfully, it hadn't.

"Well?" Liam asked, having turned around in his chair when she walked in. "Hey, are you-?"

"I'm fine," she brushed his concern off. "But he won't be."

Liam lifted an eyebrow, but didn't ask. If it came down to firing Culhane, he was pretty sure he didn't want to know the details.

"It'll take a couple days, probably," she filled in for him. "But I'd say his productivity will probably start to go down. He can't see you anywhere near here anymore, though. That'll throw everything off."

She opened the door just a crack, checking to see if Michael had shut his once more. He had. Quietly, she turned back to Liam. "Go on. I'll let you know if things change."

Confused and admittedly curious, he shot her a look that clearly said, _you'd better_ , before heading for the elevators. Fallon watched him go for a moment, then ducked back into her office, convinced that she was taking herself down the right path to protect Liam, but the wrong one when it came to keeping him around on a personal level. She couldn't tell him the truth of what she was doing without risking him being disapproving again.

But she was putting him and his family first. If she could freak Michael out enough to make a mistake, she could get rid of him and make sure that the only person viable for Ada's attack would be Fallon Carrington herself.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally Posted March 29, 2019

In the following days, Michael felt himself slowly going a bit mad with confusion when it came to Fallon. He overheard her on the way into his office one morning as she spoke on the phone to someone, inquiring about when the Carrington's new chauffeur would be free to drive her to the doctor's for an appointment. She evidently didn't mind driving there herself, but Cristal wanted to come with her. Someone walked down the hall towards the copy room and he was too worried about being caught eavesdropping, so he didn't catch the rest of her call.

At lunch that day, he could've sworn he heard her talking to one of her team members about good _names_. She looked the same to him, but he knew better than to assume that something visibly changed right away. The most confusing part, though, was the fact that she'd come back from Paris saying she wanted to make sure there was distance between them. But now she'd practically told him he was going to be a father. Hadn't she?

His afternoon meeting came and went, but Michael realized he hadn't actually heard everything that happened, because she was sitting several seats down from him, commanding the room and looking just as she always had, regardless of his presence.

The most shocking thing, he determined, was that she seemed okay with blocking him. With keeping him out of what was happening. As someone who had lost his own father, and knowing how Fallon felt about the drama of her parents and the parentage of Steven, of Adam, of Jeff and Monica's mother – of far too many people - … He could not believe that she would feel truly comfortable keeping him out in the long run.

Hearing about how she was being treated at home almost made him feel bad, as well, for taking Ada with him to their party. Whatever she personally wanted to do, he'd been the one to suggest the party as a means of getting a DNA test done before Blake even met Adam. Why waste time on someone that wasn't right? Michael was far more curious now, though, at the mention of how uncomfortable he made Fallon.

At the end of the meeting, everyone stood, including Fallon, but Michael stepped over to catch her arm before she could leave. "Got a minute?" He asked, meaning it more as an expectation than a question.

"No," she replied, snatching up her bag and turning to leave.

Michael stepped between her and the door. "Fallon. We need to talk."

Her eyes narrowed sharply. "I don't think we do. Now, if you'll excuse me." Fallon took a step to the side, ignoring the frown that deepened across Michael's face.

"If you don't answer me, Fallon, I swear-"

Fallon spun around in the now-open doorway, lifting her voice in her anger. "Are you threatening me, Culhane?" She slammed the door behind her as she stormed up to him, facing off but keeping her body still – perhaps because of what happened before, with Jeff in that elevator. "Don't you dare. You have no right to demand anything from me. Especially not now."

He stared after her as she walked out properly that time, only realizing after she'd gone that people were eyeing him through the windows of the conference room. Sighing heavily, he made his way to the elevators, careful to let her take a different one, before him.

\---------------------------

Liam sent off an email to his editor, thanking them for their speedy response to his notes the previous Friday. In doing so, he completely missed the knock at his door. But the cleared throat he did not. Looking over, he was quite surprised to see Michael standing there, hands in his pockets, and clearly waiting for a reaction.

"Did I miss a meeting?" Liam asked, only a little concerned by the idea. Maybe they'd let him leave sooner than the expected six months if they thought he was being unhelpful.

"No." Michael stepped in, glancing at the door but leaving it open. He did drop his voice a little, though. "You brought Fallon on board, right?"

"We needed someone who knows the company. She knows it better than anybody."

Michael shook his head. "Not my point. You two aren't on the outs anymore, are you?"

Liam tilted his head slightly, looking confused. "Well, I wouldn't say we're anywhere near what we used to be. But as far as being in a fight or something? No, we're not."

"Then maybe you can answer something for me since she won't." Michael waited for acknowledgment before laying it out there. "Is Fallon pregnant?"

If Liam had been taking a drink of the coffee he'd just started reaching for, it definitely would've ended up all over his computer. After he spat it out. Luckily, he hadn't brought the cup to his mouth yet. Instead, he set it down, shock washing over him. "Uh, I don't know," he said after a moment. "I'd assume you'd know more about the likelihood of that than I would," Liam added bitterly, shrugging. "She broke things off weeks ago, didn't she? You only just found out?"

"Well, it would've been a _bit_ more recent than when the engagement was called off."

Liam froze, staring at Michael. "Oh?"

Culhane shrugged nonchalantly, clearly enjoying Liam's discomfort. "Maybe three or four weeks ago. Just before she went to Paris. Before I started here."

"Well, regardless, she hasn't said anything about it."

Michael nodded, lingering just a moment or two, before he turned and walked out. As soon as he was gone, Liam pulled out his phone and let Fallon know, via text, that they needed to talk right away. He definitely didn't expect the response he got: _I would, but I'm about to meet with your mother._

Taken aback, he picked up his coffee again and headed out in a rush towards his mother's office.

\-----------------------

Fallon sat across from Laura Van Kirk, wondering in the back of her mind what sort of man Liam's father used to be. Laura had kept her name, but Fallon had never thought to look into the Ridley-Lowden side of Liam's lineage. Not that it mattered, perhaps.

But Laura was looking at the brunette across from her with something Fallon had never seen before. Sympathy. And you'd better believe Fallon was playing into it. Hard.

"I didn't realize I was going to be called in for this," Fallon said cautiously. Shouldn't Laura, of all people, be furious with her? Or was the woman's lack of faith in son's ability to be, well, a man, so strong that she wasn't surprised?

"I do not take kindly to men making threats towards the female employees within any company I'm part of."

"Ah," Fallon replied, finally understanding what was happening. This wasn't about her. It was about Michael. She wanted to smirk harder than she had in a long while, but didn't. The interruption of Liam's arrival certainly helped her keep it in.

"What's going on?" He asked, his eyes jumping between them.

"Close the door, Liam," Laura replied, waving a hand.

Fallon managed to halt the lifting eyebrow that started moving when Laura didn't even trip in the slightest over the name her son had chosen to use. Liam sank into the chair next to Fallon after doing as his mother requested.

"Are you sure you want to-?" Fallon began, only for Laura to hold up a hand.

"Of course I am. We took Michael Culhane on under contract, and breaking it would be difficult, but it's possible."

"What-?" Liam shook his head, completely lost. "You want to fire Culhane?"

Laura tilted her head from side to side, almost wishy-washy in a way Fallon didn't trust. "Maybe. If he's directing threats at people, then-"

"Threats?" Liam looked at Fallon sharply. It was the first time he'd seen her since hearing Michael's theory, of course, and he immediately found himself trying to read her. Was Culhane right? And why would he threaten Fallon one minute, then ask Liam for information the next?

"It was at the meeting after lunch," Fallon explained, appearing reluctant. "He cornered me before I could leave. And after the other day in his office..."

"What happened then?" Laura nudged.

"I went to him for advice," she glanced at Liam, letting him know that was the part he'd been left out of before. "But I got too... nervous. He tried to stop me when I left."

"And has this ever happened before?"

Fallon sighed heavily, wondering just how far off the question really was. The two of them had gone back and forth for longer than she'd even known Liam. And she was about to ruin his career for fear of Ada using him again. She'd never even stopped to think that Michael would've done anything on his own. Yet here he was, getting worked up and actually throwing down a threat, however weak and likely empty it might've been.

"We always had a complicated relationship," she admitted, lifting her eyes to Laura to see if she could gauge what the woman was thinking. But Laura didn't bring up the overlap that had happened between Culhane and the fake marriage to Liam. How much had the woman changed? Or, alternately, how much about Laura's history wasn't yet clear to Fallon?

"Well, I'll keep eyes on him over the next couple of days. If anything happens, we'll pay the severance and let him go."

Truly shocked, Fallon actually didn't know what to say. But then Laura pointed between Fallon and Liam.

"This baby people are talking about... it's not yours is it? I can't imagine it could be."

"Uh, no," Fallon said, almost cracking a smile in her discomfort and amazement that this was even happening. Almost. She was admittedly too irked by Laura's insult to manage it. "I'm not having Liam's child."

"All the better for you," Laura shrugged.

Fallon reacted strongly to that, surprising all of them. "What? Liam would be an excellent father."

Laura leaned forward on her elbows, unconvinced. "And yet you divorced him and climbed into bed with the guy you pretended meant nothing."

"Respectfully, Mrs. Van Kirk, why are you helping me if you still hate me so much?"

"You've done valuable work for this company. I see no benefit in letting men continue to step over women on their rise to what they want. And beyond that, … perhaps I just pity you."

Fallon's jaw tightened, but she managed to keep her retort back. Liam, still overwhelmed but sensing the tension, stood up and offered a hand to Fallon. "We should get out of your hair."

"Of course," Laura drawled. "If anything happens, I'll let you know."

Liam led Fallon out of his mother's office, but instead of letting her go back up to her office, he kept hold of her hand and led her to his. Once they were inside, she spun around to stare at him as he released her and closed the door behind them.

"What?"

"Are you kidding, Fallon?" He threw his hands up, already in a mood far too like their last fight. "When were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?" She asked. "You mean about the whole Michael thinking I'm pregnant thing? I never said that I was. He just assumed-"

"You're letting him think he might be a father?"

Fallon's shoulders fell as she watched the disapproval on his face. "This is why I didn't tell you. I knew you wouldn't like it, so I didn't want to get you wrapped up in it. I never suggested to him that he might be a father. He took things the wrong way, and is being aggressive, like I knew he would be as soon as he made the assumption. He'll be out of here before you know it, now," she swallowed roughly, shifting her weight. "And then so will I. If your mother doesn't fire me, I'll resign. And you can get back to your - your book tour plans and I'll- …find something new. The old me always did, right? I can do it again. Now get out of my way."

He did step aside, but stared after her, running a hand through his hair as he took a moment to just try and process.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted March 30, 2019

"Fallon!" Kirby cried when the door opened upon Fallon's return home that afternoon. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Why do people keep saying that? Tell you what?"

"You tell _Adam_ you're pregnant but not me?"

Fallon scoffed, holding up a hand in her absolute befuddlement. "I- Excuse me? I haven't told that gold-digging, wannabe-Blake anything."

She took a moment to look around after that, realizing that the staff or any member of her family could've overheard them.

Kirby set her hands on her hips, frustrated. "Then how does he know you're pregnant?"

"I'm not, first of all. But obviously he would've heard that from Ada."

"Obviously?" Kirby parroted, following Fallon as she started heading through the house.

"You want to play pool, Kirby?" Fallon kept walking, heading out the back door and going downstairs towards the pool house.

"That isn't some bizarre baby-related saying, is it? You Americans have the strangest phrases."

Fallon nearly smiled at that one, looking over her shoulder. "No. But it's more private that the manor. We won't be overheard there."

So the women made their way over, making sure they were firmly secure behind closed doors. Kirby hopped up on top of the pool table, but Fallon went straight for a pool cue.

"Get down," Fallon told her, waving a hand in her direction. "If we're in here, we might as well get some use out of it. Lord knows nobody else does."

Kirby stepped down and picked up a cue, waiting for Fallon to hand the chalk over. "So, let's go over this again. You're not pregnant."

"Nope." Fallon lined up the balls in the rack, sliding it back and forth a little before removing the rack to set up a shot and break them. "But Michael, Ada and now Adam think that I am." She made her shot, sinking a striped one. "And they need to keep thinking so. You're solids."

Kirby walked around the table, eyeing her options as Fallon moved to do the same. "Okay, but what about when they tell Blake or Cristal? Steven wouldn't be bothered, but those two would probably react pretty strongly."

"They'll probably assume I didn't say anything because they lost the baby," Fallon mused. "But we just have to avoid questions until I get Michael fired. Liam's mother is already prepared to do so, but I just need to get him worked up enough that he makes another scene."

"Knowing you two, that won't be hard," Kirby said, almost joking. "If they're going to bother you about this, why stay here? That just gives them more chances to ask or figure it out."

"Where do you think I should go, then?"

"You're twenty-six. You never thought about moving out?" Kirby missed her shot, but didn't really care since she wasn't trying very hard. She wouldn't win against Fallon anyway.

Fallon frowned, but walked over to the other side of the table to line up again. "Of course I have. But usually any time I start to consider it, something happens and I end up staying."

Leaning against her pool cue, Kirby mirrored Fallon's frown. "It doesn't seem like that has worked out very well for you."

"Yet here I am," Fallon muttered, sinking another ball and moving on to the next. "I could go stay at the Ritz or something, but that doesn't guarantee they'll be out of sight or mind, considering this family."

"Maybe not. But I can try and keep them from finding you if you want."

Fallon stood up straight to consider that, before finally saying, "Yeah, that's fair. Maybe you're right. But once Adam spreads the word, they'll assume I ran away to hide the truth. It'll only reinforce their assumptions."

"Isn't that good, for now?" Kirby asked, getting more and more confused about what Fallon actually wanted to achieve.

"Yeah," Fallon agreed, leaning over and sinking the last of the striped billiard balls. "So how do we get me in and out before they notice it? Especially before Adam shows up."

"I could say we're going to visit my mum," Kirby offered. "Dad would probably be the only surprised one, but I haven't exactly been the type to stay in one place this long anyway."

Fallon turned her chin a little, eyeing Kirby. "You want to move out with me?"

"Well you don't have to make it sound weird. You need an alibi, and we're a team now, right? Friends?"

Kirby's hopeful expression surprised Fallon enough into a nearly-instant cave. "Yeah, sure. Okay, well then we both need to pack. I'll be ready to leave by dinner if uninterrupted. I'll take a fake call, refuse to talk to anyone on the way upstairs, and we'll be out of here before Anders rings the dinner bell."

\----------------------------

After checking into the hotel, Fallon dove straight back into work, and Kirby realized how dull it must be to live with Fallon if she wasn't the person you were seeing. What did Fallon even do for fun? Drink? Kirby figured she could arrange that. Just as she started to look at the menu to order something of that nature up to their shared living area, Fallon's phone rang.

"Blake," Fallon greeted as she answered it. "How's dinner?"

"We're two places over-set, actually," Blake drawled. "Or, three, if we're speaking technically? When were you going to tell us?"

"I wasn't."

She heard him scoff on the other end of the line and rolled her eyes.

"Fallon, I don't know if this disappearance is brought on by Adam or your secret lovechild or what, but you and Kirby need to turn around."

"Sorry, daddy. I can't. We're wheels up any minute."

"You're not," Blake countered. "The plane hasn't been taken out."

Fallon laughed a little, setting her laptop aside to lean back on the couch. "Yes, I'm aware, thanks. We're doing this Kirby's way. But if you want to send it over to pick us up when you're done, I wouldn't complain."

"When you two are finished goofing off down under, maybe you'll actually try to spend some time with your brother."

"I see Steven every day, actually. We could both do with a break."

"You know who I meant, Fallon."

Fallon sighed heavily, looking over at Kirby and nodding fervently when the redhead held up the drink menu and pointed at the Southside she knew Fallon liked so much. "Listen, Daddy. This is a good thing, isn't it? You get to spend more time with your former-doctor son, and I won't be there to ruin it. We both win!"

"Well, when you're through being selfish, let me know. I'll consider letting you come back home."

He ended the call and left Fallon with a level of shock she hadn't expected. She was being selfish by accompanying her friend – Steven's half sister – to visit her family? After all, she was only pretending to. God, Fallon wasn't sure anyone in her family, herself included, knew what selfish even meant. It clearly had too many definitions for her to keep up with.

"What's that face for?" Kirby asked. "It worked, didn't it?"

Fallon shook her head, figuring her disappointment didn't matter. "It did. Just wondering how long it's going to take for that drink to get here."

"I'll place the order."

A couple of Southsides later, Fallon had her reports done for the next day and had moved on to picking out an outfit for the next day. Her phone rang, again. But this time she glanced at the ID and ignored the call, tossing her cell onto her bed. Kirby, of course, couldn't help snooping.

"Why didn't you answer his call?"

"Liam's mad at me. Whatever he has to say, I don't think I want to hear it. Not until he's had time to take it all in."

Kirby flopped across the bed, watching Fallon upside down as she held a shirt and set of trousers up in front of her before a long mirror. "Maybe he has. Just call him back."

A ding sounded, and Kirby held Fallon's phone up to look at it. "He says it's important."

"You wanna read through my emails, too?" Fallon turned to frown at her.

"Fallon. Call him."

It took a moment, but Fallon eventually rolled her eyes and set the clothes down, snatching her phone to dial his number. He didn't answer with a hello, much to her surprise.

"I'm sorry."

Fallon deflated immediately, unprepared for something other than a fight. "...Oh?"

"Yeah. I get why you're doing it," he said, sounding truly apologetic. "I don't mean to jump over the problem at hand, but there's something else. I have to go to New York on Monday to meet with my editor. So I won't be around to back you up when it comes to my mother."

"Then I'll need to work faster. That's fine; I have my actual work done outside of meetings, so I'll have time to think of something."

"Actually, I might have an idea. You'll be in your office tomorrow?"

"Of course," she confirmed.

They said their goodbyes and Fallon hung up, turning to look at Kirby, confusion obvious on her face. "I'm feeling more and more like a yo-yo every day."

"How do you think Liam felt?"

Fallon pursed her lips, picked up her potential outfit, and went back to the mirror.

"I'm serious, Fallon," Kirby continued. "You can't get upset with him after you didn't tell him what you were up to. If I were him, I'd just be thinking back to old problems, y'know?"

"I really don't need you to psycho-analyze him. Or me." Fallon walked over to the door and hung her outfit on the back of it. "Now, I'm going to call it a night early, if you don't mind."

Suspicious but uninterested in earning any more of Fallon's ire, Kirby stepped down from the bed, moved through the attached living space, and into her own side, unsure what she was going to do with herself now that she didn't have Sam or the rest of the house to occupy her time.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 1, 2019

The problem with pretending to be out of the country, Kirby realized very quickly the next morning, was that it was very easy to get bored when your partner in crime had to work all day. When she texted Fallon to say as much, Fallon told her to look through what the hotel offered and just charge it to the room. Kirby wasn't exactly surprised, but she wasn't complaining either. So while she started flipping through the pages in the hotel's accommodation booklet, Fallon was trying to guess when Liam would show up and put his plan into action.

She had grown tired of seeing the looks on her coworkers' faces whenever she had to make a trip to anybody else's office, so Fallon had rearranged her day so that she could take all of her paperwork around right before lunch, or at the end of the work day on her way out.

Just when she was starting to think maybe she ought to text Liam and let him know she was free, there was a knock at her door.

"Michael," she greeted rather cooly, sitting up straighter than she already had been.

"Can we just... talk?" He asked, sounding exasperated and tired.

"I don't know—"

Over Culhane's shoulder, Fallon saw Liam step into view long enough to catch her attention, giving a little wave. Had he been waiting for this? Or maybe he'd nudged Michael into talking to her? If this was part of his plan, then that meant Fallon had to cause Michael to make a scene. Right? She sure hoped she was reading it right.

Liam stepped out of sight again, heading towards the copy room down the hall. Far enough to have some privacy if she really wanted to talk to Culhane first, but close enough to keep an ear out for them.

"You can't keep avoiding me when we work across the hall, you know."

Fallon blinked, pulling herself back into the moment. "I don't think you have the right to talk to me about avoiding someone. You've done an exceptional job of it when you wanted to over the last few years."

"You're seriously still holding grudges about before Alexis showed up? That's ages ago."

"Would you rather I be mad about the secrets you kept regarding you know who?" She pressed, obviously meaning Ada.

"That was different. I was protecting you!"

Fallon scoffed. "And earning some sweet payout deals, I gather. Otherwise you wouldn't have kept doing it after she gave you the file. I'm still not convinced she actually did away with it all, you know."

"You don't trust me to make sure?"

"Even if I did, there's no way you could really ever know. Not with a woman like that. I'm tempted to try and find her myself, and-"

"Don't, Fallon," Michael warned sharply, letting Fallon know she'd come too close to the ruse for his tastes. That, or he was actually trying to be chivalrous in some way. But was that for her, or for the fact that he thought she was having his child? Fallon couldn't tell.

Shrugging, she stood and walked around the desk, leaning back on it with her hands to support her. "Listen, I'm a big girl. You should know that better than anyone. If I want to try and find Ada, I will. But I'll leave you out of it. Okay? You'll be fine."

He shook his head, taking a step closer to her. Fallon lifted her chin in response, defiant but also a silent warning.

"If I'm right, and the baby you mentioned is yours – is mine – then I don't want you anywhere near her."

"I don't care," she told him, pleased with the way her tone made him tense up even more. "It's not your choice to make!"

She pushed off of the desk, aiming for the door, but he caught her arm, spinning her back around.

"Michael!" She chided loudly, pulling her arm back, but not hard enough to break his grasp.

"I'm trying to protect you, Fallon! Why can't you just listen for once?"

"Because you got us in this mess in the first place!"

He shook his head, taken aback. "Like hell! You had to go and carry on your charade with Liam even after I told you I wanted out."

"I did that for us. So we could sell the company and move to New York, like you wanted. Like _you_ wanted. And you threw it all away! So forgive me if I don't trust you anymore."

That time she did pull away completely, not really feeling up to the fight anymore. She turned and stormed out into the hall, not sure which direction she wanted to head. But as she made a decision and aimed for the copy room in case Michael did follow her, she heard his angry footsteps behind her.

"Go away, Culhane," she snapped over her shoulder.

"No. You see this, Fallon? This right here is exactly why we would never have made it," he declared, waiting for her to turn around in her hurt, which she did, staring at him.

"Then why bother proposing?!"

"I don't know! Maybe I thought you would change once you were out from under your family's shadow."

Fallon's hands fell to her hips as the anger really set in. "That isn't why you marry someone. You're supposed to love them, despite their flaws."

"Well you've got far too many of those for anyone to really put up with, don't you, Fallon? Is that why you pretended to run off to Australia with Kirby to see her mom?"

She should have countered that, or said something that would keep him from talking to Adam. She could've. But she was still processing the first question, and the way it was repeating in her head over and over made it hard to even recognize that he'd asked a second one. When he proposed, she'd brought this all up, and he hadn't minded. Or he had pretended not to? She couldn't tell what was the truth anymore.

Her mouth opened slightly, before she shut it and walked straight up to him, lifting her chin to face off with him. "I have a lot of regrets in life, Michael," she told him, her voice dropping to a nearly-calm tone. "But one thing I am exceptionally proud about, is the fact that I chose to back out of what was clearly a sham of an engagement to you. I'm _proud_ that my children will never have to know you."

She side-stepped him, aiming for her office again with the hopes that she could slam the door on him. And she did make it. But just in time for him to get in one last jab:

"And I'm sorry they'll be stuck with another sorry, Carrington excuse for a parent. You're unbelievably selfish, and God knows you'll only end up worse than your own."

Fallon made eye contact with him once more before slamming the door shut so hard that a picture frame fell off of the wall next to her. After locking it just to be safe, she pressed her back against the door and slid down it to sit on the floor, staring blankly at her desk.

A text lit up her phone. From Liam. **He's wrong, Fal. Are you okay?**

Figuring she could wallow in self-pity for a moment and Liam would understand how she meant it, she typed out a deeply honest reply, which of course would have come out as sarcastic as anything had she said it aloud. _Maybe he isn't. Remember when you said I wasn't a terrible friend? Looks like I have bigger problems to worry about._

**Let me in.**

**Come on. Before he comes back out and catches me.**

Sighing, she stood and unlocked the door, only half surprised when he pushed it open himself, shutting it before fully surprising her as he gently drew her into his chest for a hug. Fallon couldn't actually remember the last time someone had hugged her for something other than a greeting or to put on a show.

"Liam-"

"Fallon, just... Just give it a minute," he told her quietly, clearly requesting rather than demanding. "He's wrong."

She shook her head slightly, somehow nervous about the fact that she might brush her cheek against his shoulder if she moved too much. "He may have taken things too far, may have used my own thoughts against me. But that doesn't mean he's wrong, Liam."

"He shouldn't have said those things, regardless of what either of you think."

Fallon just sighed. "I don't want to do that again. There was no way in hell he's ever going to side with us against Ada, but now I've really done it. I thought if he assumed I was going to try and find her, he'd tell her to back off. But that just royally backfired. And if you were recording that for your mother, then we definitely can't use it. I was just as bad as him."

"It had to come out sometime, right? Do you feel better, at least a little?"

Her shoulders lifted slightly in a shrug. "Maybe. But I just want this to be over with. I have half a mind to mention Ada to your mother and see if she recognizes the name."

Liam pulled back enough to look at her, his hands moving to her upper arms so she wouldn't try to hide from him. "You realize if we mention the two of them in the same sentence, Michael could get in just as much trouble as her."

"He nearly got Jeff killed, and stole who knows how much from an unknowable amount of people. He was part of a drug deal, which I wish I were more surprised by, after his history with drug abuse. I don't think he would've used any of it -- he's past that -- but I also didn't think he would work with someone like her, or say things like that..."

"Whatever con they're pulling, they're taking their time. So it has to be big."

"Or it's nothing," Fallon burst out, pulling away fully to look around the room in dismay. "Maybe they aren't doing anything at all, and we're preparing for nothing."

"Then why would he bring her to your party, or bring in this Adam guy, and why would he talk to Ada about an opportunity that he'd found? Fallon, you clearly feel guilty or hurt or whatever this is, but I know you better than that. You aren't foolish enough, even when it comes to him. You're a Carrington."

"And you're a Van Kirk, Liam. So what? Contrary to what my parents think, that doesn't mean we're infallible." She held up a hand as if that would stop him from replying, and walked over towards her desk.

"I can't go off to New York knowing you're just letting this go. If something happens while I'm gone, you'll be fed to the dogs."

Fallon scoffed, spinning back around to look at him, the deja vu hitting hard. "I'm a big girl, Liam. I can handle it on my own."

"But you don't have to! God, Fallon, why can't you just let someone in? Let someone help you?"

"Because everyone always leaves!" She practically shouted, only to snap her mouth shut and look away. That wasn't supposed to come out. But it was too late, now. And she didn't want to see the way he was looking at her, because knowing Liam it would be some deep sort of gaze that dug too far into her, and just made her ache.

He was quiet for too long, and she found her gaze drifting back to him. Until he spoke with a simple, "Fallon." Her eyes jumped straight back to his, like they always did whenever he said her name. It was habit, now, in some ways.

"Sorry," she muttered, looking down at her feet. "Blake always loves to tell me how it's ridiculous to bring emotions into a business strategy, which I think is where we both have gone wrong recently. Maybe we don't call this off, but just... put it on hold. Then when you come back, we dig back in."

"No," Liam shook his head firmly. "I'm not going until this is handled."

She stood up straight at that, ready to tell him she didn't need yet another man barging in and telling her what to do, or protecting her because they thought she couldn't handle it. But then she saw the expression he wore. It wasn't one of possessiveness, like Michael's always had been. Or superiority, like Blake. And it certainly wasn't fake, like Jeff. "You can't put your career on hold for me, Liam. And frankly, you shouldn't do so for your mother, either, until she decides to start supporting you. It's high time we both learned that lesson."

"And you?"

"... Me what?"

"Do you support me?"

Fallon's brow furrowed. "Well- Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Just like me for you," he said earnestly, somehow yet again taking Fallon by surprise. "So I am not going to leave you to deal with Ada, or Culhane, or my mother on your own. My deadlines can wait, and I can Skype in with my editor instead."

"Liam-"

"Listen to me. Just, … just hear me, okay?" He waited for her to tuck her chin a little and nod before continuing. "People are rarely there for you. I see it, just like you do. But I refuse to be one of those people. I'm not going to leave. I'm not gonna let you push me away again."

She waited a moment, wanting to make sure he was done before cutting in with, "But you told me to stay away. And if it weren't for all of this, I swear I would have."

"I know. And I appreciate it. But... I think we both know that, eventually, we were going to end up back in the same place, fighting over something very much like this."

Staring at him across the room, it seemed even more impossible than usual that she could've just failed to see him for who he was. Somehow, the instant her Culhane-blinders were taken off, she realized just how foolish she'd been. Just how scared and unprepared she was for a stranger to actually care about her. It had only taken him, what? A couple months at most? And under the most catastrophic, insane circumstances. Hell, he'd seen her shoot up her own house after pool-fighting with Alexis. Even that hadn't scared him off.

Slowly, Fallon pushed away from her desk to take a careful step towards him. "For once, I wish you'd be more clear about what you mean." He'd always been far too open and honest with her, before. Back when she wasn't brave enough to accept it. What was that saying? We accept the love we think we deserve? Maybe that's why she'd waited until he no longer wanted her to try and fight for it. Because she was convinced she hadn't earned it.

"...I'm sorry I pushed you away at the ski lodge."

She shrugged a little sadly. "You were happy, and predictably, in came Fallon Carrington to spoil it." She lifted one shoulder and cracked a humorless smile to try and lighten the mood, but he didn't take the bait.

"Can we just... try that talk again?"

At her confusion, he gestured towards the two chairs in front of her desk, and waited for her to take one before sitting down in the other and turning it to face hers. She shifted her own to mimic him, but still wasn't entirely sure what he meant.

"Why did you follow me to that ski lodge, Fallon?"

"You know why," she answered quietly, realizing two things. One, this was her chance to reiterate and make clear that she still felt the same way. But two, saying it the first time had been scary and difficult enough. It had never been easy for her to say the things she really felt, and certainly not until someone else put themselves on the line first.

But this was Liam. And he deserved better.

She sat forward, her fingers curling into her palm before she reached out cautiously, holding her hand out to him. He took it almost instantly, curling both of his hands around it. "Liam, I... I don't deserve you."

"I don't subscribe to the belief that anybody deserves anyone else. That's not how relationships or love actually works."

"Then how is it supposed to work?"

Liam smiled just slightly, one corner of his mouth lifting before he looked down at their hands, his thumbs running back and forth across the backs of her fingers. "The thing about other people is that, well, they're all different. There's absolutely no way you could know everything about another person, regardless of how long you know them. It's impossible. But when you care about someone... when you love someone, you choose to fight for them. You choose to put them first, and to want what's best for them before anybody else. Love is a choice as much as it is a feeling. Just because I was hurting doesn't mean either of those aspects didn't still feel true. It doesn't mean that they don't, even now."

Fallon wasn't really sure how to follow after that. It made sense, though, so she nodded and drew in a steadying breath as she tried to think of something worthy to say. But when she took a couple moments too long, he charged ahead.

"It's okay if you don't think you can feel that way with me-"

"Liam, God, no," she burst out, sitting forward and reaching out with her free hand to make sure he wouldn't let go of her. "I- No, I do. But-"

He pulled one of his hands away, making Fallon panic a little in fear that she'd said something wrong. But he used his other hand to tug her towards him as he stood, lifting her with him. His fingers slid into her hair just a moment before his lips captured hers. Fallon felt herself gasp, then pulled her hands away from his so she could wind them around him, pulling him closer.

Until he stopped, leaning back just enough to give him room to speak. "No buts, Fal. I love you. Even when you stop trusting yourself. And you love me, if I remember right."

"Stop talking, Liam. Of course I do."

They'd accomplished nothing, solved nothing – but for the moment, Fallon just didn't care. She reached up to his hair, brushing his arm out of the way as she drew him back in.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 2, 2019

Fallon couldn't really believe this was happening. Okay, so in some ways, she could. But things were fixed, somehow, at least on a personal level, and that was more than she'd let herself hope for when she went into this. Liam's hands slid across her back, inadvertently bunching up her blouse as they moved, and she sighed her contentment into the kiss.

But she suddenly drew back with a loud gasp of realization.

"What?" Liam asked, freezing like he thought he'd done something wrong.

"We've been so blind!" She shook her head slightly, reaching up as she talked to rub away stray lipstick that had transferred to his skin. "Adam is in communication with Ada somehow. If we can bug his room, maybe we can figure out what she's telling him, and if it's different than what we think she's telling Michael."

Liam laughed softly, brushing her hair back. "All that came to you because of a kiss? I'm impressed!"

She swatted his arm and pursed her lips at him, but turned away to pull out a small mirror from her pocket to fix her own appearance. "No, I just realized we've been wasting an opportunity. We've been trying to do everything through Michael, and that's clearly not working. I didn't think about it because Blake's so happy to have him back, I guess. But Jeff can make something, and we can get... somebody to hide it in his room."

"Well, not you or Kirby."

"No..." Fallon frowned slightly, leaning against her desk to face him as he sank back into his chair. "But maybe you could get Sam to do it. If Michael's actually going to keep protecting me after that, then he wouldn't want her to know I'm not out of the country. So Sam can't let them know, either."

"Okay," Liam nodded, "but what do I tell them I'm there for? CA paperwork or something?"

She _hmm'd_ quietly, her fingers tapping along the edge of her desk. "Maybe you're looking for me. I was supposed to do an interview recently and everything fell apart. It's going to go very badly once that hits the presses. Maybe we say I convinced you somehow to make up some story or do a tell-all about our marriage, in hopes that it would replace the bad press."

"Except you're out of the country, so we can't. And that would explain why the story never breaks."

"Exactly."

A grin, which was just enough of a smirk to make Fallon proud, grew across his cheeks. "You see? When you stop letting yourself overthink, you're excessively clever."

She glanced down, smiling with even greater pride. "Well, it's a start, right? Doesn't mean I'm not still worried about Culhane, though."

"Let's start with getting a bug from Jeff, and I'll take that over straight away. If anything comes through on there, maybe he can even record it. That way, if Adam mentions Culhane, we've got all of them. And if not, we'll talk to my mother again. Mention Ada and see what she does."

"Well, as I understand it based on what Jeff said, she set up the drug thing to ruin Van Kirk Industries. And it sounded like she knew your uncle somehow. So whoever she is, she must've been involved with your family, though maybe under a different name. I can just tell your mother the truth, though. I thought he was cheating on me with her. That'll be much easier to work into a conversation."

"Definitely," he agreed.

Fallon reached behind her to pull out her phone. "All right. Then I'll call Jeff! Can you go by tonight?"

Liam nodded, and she quickly placed the call, grateful when Jeff picked up almost immediately. As she explained what they needed, Liam got his phone out to delete the recording he'd taken. Then he looked through his emails to see if he could wiggle around his upcoming deadlines. Once she finished up and thanked Jeff for agreeing to help them, she pushed off from the desk and walked up to him, leaning over to set her hands on each of his arm rests.

He lifted his gaze from his phone, surprised by her sudden closeness.

"You need to sneak out without Culhane seeing you," she told him as he set his phone in his lap, his hands brushing over her arms. He nodded, but sat forward to kiss the corner of her mouth before putting his phone away.

"You go first?" He suggested. "Then you can signal or something."

Fallon nodded, standing up and waiting for him to do the same before heading towards the door. But as her hand reached for the handle, she paused and looked over at him as he spoke up.

"Fallon, does this mean we're...?"

She frowned slightly, unsure what to call them, now. She drew in a steadying breath, only to release it on a sigh. "Don't take this the wrong way, Liam. But I'd really like to take things slow this time. Do it right. I don't think I've ever really done that before."

Liam smiled gently, but shrugged. "We never even had a proper date, I don't think. Maybe we should start there."

"Well, our first two attempts were pretty bad," Fallon agreed. "Maybe third time's the charm?" One side of her mouth lifted in the beginnings of a smirk.

He stepped closer, reaching out to her hips to turn her towards him. "Well," he began, watching her hands as they lifted to his shoulder and upper arm. "How about we have dinner to celebrate and go over our plans after I give Sam the bug?"

"Don't jinx it, Liam," she teased, the pair of them smiling at the memory of when he'd first asked. "But that sounds perfect. I'll tell – well... I'll ask – Kirby to give us some space."

"It's probably safer to just tell her," he said with a chuckle, pulling back and taking her hands. "I'll call you."

She squeezed his hands, then let go to slip through the door. When she confirmed that Michael wasn't around, she opened her door again and waved Liam through – grinning to herself after he quickly kissed her cheek on the way out.

Once he was safely around the corner and out of sight, Fallon ducked back into her room and texted Kirby, telling her to call when she had a few minutes.

\--------------------

Anders opened the front door a few moments after the doorbell rang that evening, grateful that whoever it was had waited until after the family had their dinner. Things never seemed to go well whenever the Carrington dinners were interrupted. Or when any meal was interrupted, really.

The door swung towards him, and for a moment, Anders was almost convinced that he was imagining what he saw. Even Kirby showing up and waiting for permission to return would've been more reasonable than Liam showing up uninvited after the obvious fallout that had come from his and Fallon's divorce. Fake divorce? Whatever it was.

Liam looked anxious, which Anders couldn't fault him for, considering where he was. But at the same time, that likely meant bad news for whoever the lad was here to see.

"Liam," Anders greeted warily. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm supposed to meet Fallon for some... interview prep or something? She asked me to do an exclusive with her tomorrow morning."

Anders frowned and shook his head. "She isn't here. She and Kirby are visiting Kirby's mother."

Liam's eyebrows lifted in surprise, and though Anders felt something was off about it, he wasn't sure what it was. "Oh. Well, is Sam around? I heard the two of them were pretty close now, maybe he can fill me in on what's going on?"

The young man's concern seemed quite genuine, and Anders found he was glad to see it. In his opinion, Fallon could've done with someone being more concerned about her, especially lately. "Yes, of course. Come in."

Liam stepped forward enough to Anders to close the door, but didn't go any further, which Anders of course appreciated. At least some guests knew how to be respectful.

When Anders returned with a confused Sam, Liam asked if they could speak privately, saying Fallon had asked for his help.

"Uh, sure," Sam agreed, leading him towards one of the sixteen spare bedrooms the manor was home to, where he shut the door just in case. Sam waited for Liam to sit in an arm chair before opening the floor. "What's wrong with Fallon? Besides, y'know, the usual."

Liam made sure his voice was lowered, and glanced towards the door before diving into his explanation. "You remember Ada?"

"The one that brought Adam back?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "She's the one Michael was working with... The reason Fallon called off the engagement, and the one that got Jeff shot. Well, Michael helped with that, but still." Liam sighed, taking in Sam's eyes as they widened like dinner plates in his attempt to absorb it all. "Michael took a job at Carrington Atlantic, and I overheard him talking to Ada on the phone the other week. Before Adam's party. That's why Fallon came back to CA. To try and catch them."

"... Uh- Okay? So... wait. Why are you here? And why did Fallon and Kirby take off?"

So Michael hadn't told Ada. Good. "They didn't, really. Fallon's still coming to work. She and Kirby are staying at a hotel here in Atlanta, but we're starting to think that Adam might be working with Ada and Michael." Liam ran a hand through his hair, trying to make it as clear as he could. "We don't know if Adam is really who he says he is. But Michael thinks Fallon is pregnant, so it sounds like he's keeping her presence here a secret from them. We need to know if Ada and Adam are planning something behind his back."

Sam shook his head, clearly baffled by it all.

"It's a lot, I know-"

"What does Fallon need me to do?"

Liam blinked in surprise. "Do you think he's up to something?"

Sam shrugged one shoulder. "Fallon has hated Adam from the beginning, but not because of him being Blake's new favorite. Though, that probably can't hurt. But Adam has been in Steven's ear since he arrived, not to mention how creeped out Fallon was by him. Adam's been saying how me and Steven should finally move out. Like how Fallon left. I don't know, it just... It feels like he's trying to get rid of everyone so he can- can revel in the stuff he missed because he was kidnapped, maybe?"

"It's not like he missed out because of Steven or Fallon, though."

"Well, no," Sam agreed. 'But maybe he figures they had their turn already? I could be wrong, but the way he's pushing for it so hard, I just... I've had this weird feeling about it. And I'm not hell bent on staying or anything, but Steven's been through a lot lately, and I don't know if he's ready. Adam keeps telling him that he is, but how would he know?"

"We talked to Jeff, since he's mad at them as well. And he gave us this," Liam explained, pulling out the tiny bug he'd been given after work. "If you can stick this somewhere hard to notice in Adam's room, we can record any conversations he has with Ada, or whoever else. But you have to be careful. If he finds this-"

"Fallon's in for it. I know." Sam reached out and took it, looking at the sticky backing Liam pointed to, which he could remove to place it somewhere. "He spends all his spare time with Steven, or at work with Blake. I'll have time tomorrow morning while they're gone."

"Perfect. Thanks, Sam," Liam said, standing and offering a hand for the other man to shake. "If she wasn't afraid of being followed or caught by Adam, I'm sure she would've come to you herself."

"Yeah," Sam nodded, standing as well. "You should probably get out of here, though. Just in case. Tell her I said hi. And that I'll be careful."

"Will do. And feel free to call any of us if something comes up. It's probably safer than texting and leaving written evidence behind."

Sam nodded again, leading Liam towards the door and then out into the hallway when he saw that it was empty, thankfully. It wasn't until they made it down the front staircase that they saw Adam walking through the living room. Liam gave Sam a last nod before opening the front door and heading for his car.

Adam wandered towards Sam, focused on his phone and seeming oblivious to who had just snuck out. Sam strode past him, looking for a snack as if nothing at all was afoot.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 4, 2019

Liam stepped into the elevator at the Ritz, waiting until the doors closed and he confirmed he was alone, and then removed the baseball hat that didn't quite suit his usual business clothes. But it went alright with what he had changed into, which was more along the lines of what he'd worn around Fallon originally, during his _I'm-not-who-I-say-I-am_ thing.

The elevator stopped when it finally reached the upper floor, and deposited him down the hall from Fallon and Kirby's rooms. His concern had him glancing around, but the coast was clear so he made his way to the door they shared and knocked gently.

Inside, Fallon jumped up from the couch, where she'd been impatiently thumbing through business stories and news about stock trades. As soon as she opened the door, she reached out to his sleeve to draw him in. Liam chuckled softly, waiting for the door to shut behind him before greeting her.

"Sam says hi."

Fallon smiled in relief, taking as the positive that it was. When Kirby popped her head out to see what was going on, she grinned deviously.

"I knew it! No wonder you were so anxious, Fallon," Kirby announced, one hand on her hip and the other holding her door open.

"Kirby..." Fallon started, her tone one of deep warning. "We need to make plans, not get all dramatic."

Liam shrugged. "I mean, when you say it like that, it kind of sounds like evil plotting."

Fallon waved a hand at him before heading over to the couch to pick up the cabernet she'd poured earlier. "Come on, then," she ushered them, sitting down. It took a great deal of effort to bite back her pleased smile when Liam sat right next to her and draped his arm across the top of the couch behind her. Whether he was doing it purposefully, to tell her that he meant everything they'd talked about earlier, or because he just wanted to, Fallon didn't care. She hid her reaction inside her wine glass, then turned her head to look at Kirby.

"So, recap," she started. Fallon and Liam filled Kirby in on their plans, and Liam went over what Sam had told him, his hand shifting to Fallon's shoulder when her anger set in about Steven and the fact that she wasn't there to make sure he was okay.

"Sam's keeping an eye on him," Liam assured her. "And first thing tomorrow, we can start listening in on that bug."

Fallon pursed her lips a little, realization setting in. "I have meetings tomorrow. And you need to work everything out with your editor if you're really not going-"

"I'm not."

She looked over at him, not quite sure how she felt about that, still. "Well, regardless, we can't just listen to it all day."

"I can," Kirby pointed out. "I'm sure most of it will be boring or maybe just silent, but maybe Sam can call me whenever Adam leaves or comes home. I can just keep it on in here, or wear headphones or something while I hang out downstairs."

"... About that," Fallon said cautiously, not wanting to upset Kirby after she'd been so much help. "Be careful where you spend time. For all we know, Ada could be informed at any minute that we're not out of the country. As soon as that happens, we'll probably be trailed. So just... keep an eye out, okay? Or try to disguise yourself somehow."

"I'm pretty good at that," the redhead assured her. "So I guess I'll call you if I hear anything weird?"

"That would be great."

Liam reached into his pocket and handed over the device that Jeff said matched the bug Sam would plant the next morning, explaining that she could plug it into a laptop. "Or just call Jeff if you run into problems, I guess."

Kirby nodded with a confident smile as she took it, her eyes darting between the two of them. It took Fallon widening her eyes pointedly for Kirby to remember that the two of them were planning to do dinner. "Sorry! I- I'll get out of your hair. Just, don't order the salmon from downstairs. It's not as good as Mrs. Gunnerson's."

And with that, Kirby hopped up and hurried into her room, closing the door to give them their privacy.

A heavy moment of silence settled over Fallon and Liam, until she sat up straighter and turned towards him, taking control of the situation like she was used to. "Okay. Hold this," she told him, handing over her wine glass so she could pick up the hotel dining menu and open it between them.

Much to Liam's surprise, she didn't frown at him when he took a sip of the wine. Though he did squint at it and lower the glass to rest it atop his knee. Noting his distaste, Fallon traded him, and a few minutes later, she hung up the phone after placing their order.

Refusing to let the silence creep back in, Fallon dropped back down next to him, her glass now empty and abandoned by the hotel phone. "So. Tell me about your book. When can I read it?"

"Uh," Liam turned a bit red, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck. "Not yet."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and he held up a hand to try and calm her down.

"No, it's not- I just, I haven't shown it to anybody I actually know. Besides my agent. After my last book deal fell through, I didn't want anybody thinking I was going to do another book about my family."

"Alexis never gave me that manuscript," Fallon explained, though he surely already knew. "But she said something once, about second chances. And something about it reminded me of you."

"Well, that's what I told her," he nodded. "That if you could give her another shot after what you'd been through, maybe I needed to do the same for my mother. So, in some ways, I guess I ought to thank you for that."

"But in other ways?"

He sighed, as she'd sort of expected him to. "We're trying. But you know full well it hasn't been easy." Her lips turned down in apology, but he just shook his head. "It's okay. I had to do it eventually. You only get one family, right?"

"Genetically, at least," Fallon agreed. She leaned into the back of the couch beneath his arm, her expression clear: she understood exactly how he felt. And she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt that way with anybody.

"I do want you to read my book, Fal. Soon, I promise."

She smiled her thanks, but actually turned a bit pink herself as she decided to voice something personal in return. She couldn't help but say it with a bit of sass, though, in hopes that doing so would cover up how nervous it made her feel. "You know, … I like when you call me that."

"Oh?" He asked, his brow furrowed with interest.

"Yeah. It's strange, I never really thought about what people called me. It was always just Fallon. But it sounds different when you say it. And even better when you shorten it. I don't know why."

Liam leaned in to kiss her, intending to keep it gentle in appreciation for her openness. He knew how hard that was for her. That, of course, and the fact that she'd explicitly told him she wanted to take things slow. But she returned the pressure, one of her hands falling to the space just above his knee, and he very nearly turned it into something more when he felt that –- something impatient, and designed to make up for their lost time. But this was Fallon, and he couldn't just do that with her.

Still, when she broke the kiss with a smile, neither of them went very far. Fallon felt a bit foolish for the quiet that came over them again. She wasn't usually one for casual conversations, preferring to always be working on something. Her hustle, it seemed, was coming back to bite her when it came to Liam.

At the same time, there was something sort of nice about the quiet, and he reached over to slip his hand beneath hers to take hold of it. It was perfect timing, really, because there was a knock at the door a moment later, so he helped her to her feet to greet the hotel employee that had brought them their dinner. After they dropped it off and left with a nice tip from Fallon, she pointed Liam towards her adjoining room, and a table within that was set a good distance from the mounted television.

She turned to him, determined to make this as easy as possible for both of them. "Alright, Mr. Six-Course-Meal. Do you watch Hell's Kitchen?"

Liam laughed, finding that he was pretty unsurprised that Fallon would watch something featuring a figure like Gordon Ramsay. "Of course I do," he replied, sitting down and passing her a glass of, in his opinion, a better wine to go with what she'd ordered.

Not used to watching things with anyone else, Fallon was almost taken aback by the easy banter he offered throughout the show – at least until she settled into it. And somehow, over the course of that dinner, she felt the uncomfortable newness of whatever they now were just fading into the background. His commentary about the stupid mistakes the competitors were making had Fallon smirking and biting back laughter – until he started doing an incredibly sorry attempt at an impersonation of the different people on the show – particularly of Gordon himself. Then she couldn't hold it in anymore, and found herself laughing harder than she had in quite a long time.

"I'm going to teach you to cook," he announced, ignoring the way Fallon shook her head.

"You really shouldn't bother," she warned him. "I hate mess."

He nodded, eyes widening slightly with understanding. "I figured as much. Otherwise you wouldn't be so anxious and concerned about everything." When she frowned, he rushed to make himself clear. "That's not a bad thing, Fallon. I just mean that you're always taking everything on yourself to try and avoid things going awry. But y'know, when you let people help you, it sometimes works out for the better."

"Like Sam at his engagement party?" Fallon asked, lifting an eyebrow of pure disagreement.

"Okay, okay," he held his hands up for a moment and then opened his hands out for her to take. "I did say sometimes, to be fair. But if you didn't trust Sam then, I hope you trust him with this now."

Fallon twined her fingers with his, feeling like it was an oddly intimate thing to do, even after what they'd almost done at their divorce party. It wasn't the order in which she usually felt comfortable doing things. "I know, but we don't have a choice. And Sam's... he's gotten better recently. It isn't like he was ever unintelligent, but I think he preferred to just block certain things out, if that makes sense. Until all this trouble with Steven."

"I know. But we all make mistakes, or questionable choices."

"Like what I did to Michael?"

Liam's reassuring expression fell, and he shrugged somewhat reluctantly. "It certainly wasn't kind, but you know that. On the other hand, for now it seems like it's offered you some protection. Compared to the other things we've seen in the past year, I'd say this is a much smaller issue."

"I didn't actually confirm it. He just... assumed. So, he's still going to be mad, and I know that. It does make it harder to consider mentioning Ada to your mom, though. If he's still trying to protect me somehow, I..." Fallon shook her head, deeply confused.

"It's possible that someone could know a person without knowing the bad things they're doing," Liam pointed out, his cautious tone suggesting that he wasn't talking about Michael knowing Ada.

She drew her hands back, twisting them in her lap. "I know. I'll try and keep him as far away from the crimes as I can, if we talk to your mother."

"You're giving him a lot more credit than most people would. And he may not see it, but he ought to appreciate it."

Fallon didn't have to explain why she was doing so. They both knew what she would've said if asked, anyway. She'd loved him. No one else had been there for her over those five years after Alexis's decision to leave. Well, him and Steven, but she and her brother had gone their separate ways, when she and Culhane hadn't. So he was all she'd had, really, until Jeff's lies derailed everything.

And then there was Liam.

Looking back, she had a lot of things that she wished weren't true when it came to the pair of them. A lot of mistakes had been made – and she'd said mistake a lot, in reference to him. But the only real mistake she'd made was being afraid enough to push him away. Afraid enough to use him despite having such a deep, gut feeling about him.

She didn't mean to sink into silence, but she must have done so for too long, because he set his glass down after finishing it off. "Listen, I should probably head out. But as soon as we hear anything from Kirby, let me know, okay?"

Fallon stood when he did, brushing down her skirt. "Right, of course," she agreed, trying to hide the disappointment she felt.

Liam reached over to her upper arm, smiling kindly as he recognized her reaction for what it was. "I really hate to say this, but we shouldn't talk at work until we know what's going on. Culhane might catch on."

"Or just catch us," she agreed, sighing. "It figures, though. As soon as we sort things out..."

"I know." He gave her arm a gentle squeeze, despite his slight frown. "But we're good, right? Taking it slow?"

Fallon frowned, looking over at their now-empty plates and glasses. There was something almost remarkable about having two places and no more. About having had a genuine evening of just talking and... fun. Fallon so rarely spent so much time on something so simple. Yet she'd enjoyed it, and hadn't even needed her usual safety blanket of intimacy to be open with him. It was almost like that night at his mother's house, when they'd talked about their family, but this felt just as easy. She'd enjoyed listening to him just as much.

"Yeah, about that," she said slowly, trying not to sound too cautious. "The thing is, I really enjoyed this. And... you know how I feel about you. Just like I know how you feel about me. And, as terrible as I am with labels, I'm almost- used to it, I guess, when it comes to you. So maybe... maybe just being-"

"Fal," he cut in, a grin breaking out across his face. "Is this your way of trying to get me to ask if you'll be my girlfriend?"

"Well," she reached up, wrapping a curl around her fingers anxiously before releasing it again. "I was working up to asking you, actually. I've never tried to before. Nor wanted to. So."

Liam lifted his hand to her jaw, brushing his thumb over her cheek. "It's okay, really. I get it. And if you're sure, then you must know my answer would be yes."

"Good."

"That doesn't mean I'm not still going to try and do things the right way, though," he warned lightly, tone mostly teasing.

She shook her head at him, hardly caring how they did this so long as it happened, and reached up to just kiss him in reply. It was sweet and lingering, but evidently he was serious about how he intended to do things, because he drew back and pressed a kiss to her forehead before stepping away to clean up their dishes.

"Walk me out?" He joked. Her amused eye roll had him laughing as they made their way to the entryway table with the plates and glasses. He picked up the cap he'd worn on the way in and donned it again before knocking on Kirby's door. "Thanks again!" He offered through it. "See you around."

And after Fallon saw him out – managing to snag a last kiss before he slipped out to head home – Kirby stuck her head out in confusion. "He went home?!" She asked, amazed.

Fallon pursed her lips but nodded. "We're... taking it slow."

"Wow."

"Alright, alright. I know it's not my usual style, but calling someone my boyfriend isn't, either. So we're in entirely new territory, anyway." Fallon shrugged, but turned and headed towards her room, fully ignoring Kirby's shock at the subtle announcement of their newly official relationship. "Let's just see what tomorrow brings, shall we?"

And without waiting for another comment that would make her even more uncomfortable and bizarrely shy about Liam, she walked into her room and closed the door behind her.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 8, 2019

The next morning, Sam waited until Adam came down to breakfast before turning to address Blake, who sat at the head of the table as usual. "So, how are things going with Atlantix, now?" He asked, working off the assumption that things would be up in the air after losing both Culhane and Fallon.

"Actually," Blake replied with a confident smile, "things are looking up. Don't you think?" He shifted his gaze to Adam as he voiced the question.

"Absolutely," Adam agreed. He shifted in his seat, explaining to Sam between bites of their meal. "Dad has asked me to come on board, so hopefully we can make up some of the ground we've lost, and I can be of use to the team."

Sam nodded, putting on an impressed expression. "That's great. First day jitters, Adam?"

Adam shrugged, either playing it cool or genuinely not caring about the stress of a position within the family business. Sam felt certain the guy was no Fallon, but at least he was confident, he supposed.

"Well," Sam continued, clearing off his plate and taking a last drink. "Have a good first day." Then he wandered off towards the staircase, heading up to his and Steven's room to wait it out.

Kirby got a text a little over an hour later, after Fallon had left for work as well, telling her that it was ready. _It _, of course, being the bug. But Adam wasn't going to be home until after work, presumably, so she spent the day doing what she normally would have, and awaited a follow-up text to tell her Adam had returned.__

__\-----------------------_ _

__Work dragged on over the next two days for Fallon, but she was careful not to distract herself too much with thoughts of Liam – or of texting Liam. He was certainly busy with rescheduling things, right? For all she knew, he was in a Skype call that very morning to change his plans. It was still crazy to her that he wasn't going in for his meetings, and though she was still looking for a way to talk him out of it, it seemed like he'd made up his mind. And she didn't want to add any further tension to this new journey of sorts that they were on._ _

__By lunchtime on the second day, she had made several business calls and, really, had accomplished a great deal. But she was growing impatient nonetheless in her wait for news of any kind from her three allies in this budding war against Ada. So she slipped her phone into her pocket before heading downstairs to pick up a meal and bring it back to her office._ _

__In the lobby, Liam was talking on his phone, a wide smile on his face. When he turned and saw her, he glanced around a little to check that nobody was watching them, then winked conspiratorially. Fallon smirked in return, but kept walking through the rotating front entrance. She made it three or four businesses down before she felt the presence of someone coming up alongside her._ _

__Liam played it casual as he offered a simple, "Hey. Busy morning?"_ _

__Fallon kept her eye on where she was going as they stepped between people, but smiled. "Very. But I needed a break. Waiting for news is the worst."_ _

__He agreed, of course, because he'd been distracted all morning, himself. "Yeah, Sam said it would be a while, in theory. Adam's working for the soccer team, now... Where are we going?"_ _

__The we had her lifting an eyebrow, though a smirk nearly pulled at her lips. "Lunch."_ _

__She led him down to her long-time lunch spot of choice, and they spent the better part of the next hour sitting at a back table so passersby wouldn't be able to see them, in case those passersby included Culhane or Ada. He had spent the morning trying to convince his editor and the publisher's marketing team to rearrange things, and though he tried to hide how badly it had gone, Fallon's gaze was obviously seeing right through him._ _

__"Liam."_ _

__He sighed heavily, but nodded in admission. "After what happened last time, with me backing out after the advance... they're not really letting me push around my deadlines, or what they expect from me."_ _

__"Then you have to go," she told him firmly. "If it's money troubles they fear, then give them no reason to doubt you. I'm sure I'll be fine for a couple of days."_ _

__"Well, a week," he corrected lightly._ _

__She frowned at him. "You have to go. Your career cannot be put on hold like this, Liam. Regardless of if you need the money, you don't like working at CA. What's the point in spending more time there than you have to?"_ _

__"I don't know. For my family?"_ _

__Fallon dropped her gaze to the way her fingers were toying with the rim of her glass absentmindedly. "I get that."_ _

__He reached over, taking her hand in his to stop the fidgeting. She let him bring their hands to rest at the center of the table, and just watched as he ran his thumb over the back of her hand. "I really need you to promise me something," he told her._ _

__Fallon's eyes snapped back to his, worry shining through. "What?"_ _

__"While I'm gone... you cannot keep anything from me. Okay? You can't. I'm not going to keep secrets from you, Fal, and I need the same in return."_ _

__She was quiet for a moment, but not because she disagreed or wanted to mislead him. Instead, she was stuck on how determined he was to be open with her, when so few ever were. "I know," she agreed a few moments later. "I know. I promise, if anything comes up, I'll call you."_ _

__He cracked a pleased smile. "Or even if anything doesn't," Liam suggested._ _

__Fallon let out a quiet laugh, turning her chin away as if to say she would consider it, but maybe he ought to keep nudging her for it. When she brought her attention back to him, though, she just looked happy, and even relaxed. So for that, if nothing else, Liam found himself feeling rather proud. But he was utterly shocked when she spoke again._ _

__"... I love you."_ _

__Not shocked that she'd said it. He knew it was true, and that was a feeling too fantastic for him to ever brush off or want to doubt. No, he was shocked that she'd said it first, and seemingly out of nowhere. That decision, for Liam, spoke volumes._ _

__He stood up from the chair, both wanting to lean in for the soft kiss he gave her, but also because he knew they were running out of time. They both had to be back in the office, soon. Still, Fallon stood after he pulled away, only to steal another, more chaste, kiss._ _

__"Who's going first?" She asked, not even giving him the chance to say it back. She didn't need him to, really, and it warmed him to realize it._ _

__"I don't have any meetings like you probably do. Why don't you go ahead?"_ _

__Fallon nodded, taking one last sip of her water before turning away from the table. But he drew her back when she got a step too far, making sure she heard him offer an, "I love you, too." And once she smiled in return, he let go, watching her leave before eventually following her at distance, back to the CA building._ _

__Before he made it back, however, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, unsurprised by the name he saw there, but instead anxious because of it. "Hey, what's-?" He began, only to be cut off with a rushed question:_ _

__"Are you with Fallon?"_ _

__He frowned, offering a wary, "No...?"_ _

__"Good."_ _

__Liam stopped short in the middle of the street, and after that phone call ended, he didn't return to work for the day._ _

__\--------------------_ _

__When Fallon came home that night, Kirby was nowhere to be found. Assuming that the redhead was down in the bar, or perhaps having an early meal on her own, Fallon thought nothing of it. She also hadn't heard from Liam since lunch, but she hadn't contacted him, either. She wasn't one of those women who was constantly bothering and waiting on a man. Obviously not._ _

__So she settled in to answer an email from Steven, who could very well have called her, were it not for him thinking she was in Australia, in a different time zone, and up to who knows what. Fallon didn't want to add onto the lie since Sam knew the truth – Sam had never been great at keeping anything from Steven, so they were already risking a lot, frankly. So she just told him the weather was nice, which was true, and that she was doing well, which was mostly true (and would've been very true if the only factor had been Liam). But she kept it short for fear that she would overdo it._ _

__She hit send and found herself unusually lost for what to do. Typically, she came home and had drama to take care of. She very rarely had to wait on others, and because of her stress, she'd overworked herself at the office in place of a distraction. After setting her laptop down, Fallon started flipping through the book of the hotel's in-house accommodations. If she couldn't get anything done, she figured she may as well do something for herself._ _

__Fallon was in the middle of making an inquiry about an appointment in the spa when the door opened – revealing both Kirby and Liam. She was on edge immediately, not even apologizing before slapping the phone down before she could give her name._ _

__"...What's going on?" She asked, suspicious straight away that they were up to something._ _

__The phone rang as the person downstairs called back, but Fallon just picked it up and slammed it back down._ _

__"Fallon, you need to sit down," Liam said, deeply serious._ _

__She didn't, of course, even when the other two did, leaving a spot for her next to Liam on the couch. "Fallon," Kirby urged, pointing at the open cushion. "Please."_ _

__Liam held a hand out to her, and as concerned as she was, Fallon reluctantly took it and sank down next to him. He immediately drew her against his side, making Fallon's chin lift sharply in question. What were they so worried about?_ _

__"I need you to listen to something," Kirby explained. "Well, Liam wants you to."_ _

__"No secrets," he murmured in agreement. Fallon was grateful, she thought, for him keeping his promises. But at the same time, what could be so bad that Kirby wanted to hide it from her?_ _

__Fallon frowned, and though she nodded her willingness, she still had to know. "How bad is it?"_ _

__"Bad enough," Liam replied, his jaw clenching._ _

__Kirby pulled her laptop out of her bag, setting it on the coffee table and turning it towards Fallon. After making sure the speakers were up enough, she pressed play._ _

__Adam was clearly walking around in his room, as the audio raised and lowered as he moved away or towards the hidden bug. And he clearly hadn't found it, because he greeted Ada by name. Fallon sat forward, her hands settling atop her knees and squeezing instinctively. Adam was quiet for a moment, but then he spoke quickly, as if he were talking over someone._ _

__"Yes, I'm completely aware," he said with a level of snark that Fallon didn't expect where Ada was concerned. "I followed her the day after she left with Anders' kid. Not Steven. The other one."_ _

__Kirby rolled her eyes, but Liam was still entirely tense, knowing Adam was talking about Fallon. He also knew that it was going to become much worse._ _

__"I know that's what you want," Adam went on. Something about the way he said it distinctly reminded Fallon of the tone she had when she rolled her eyes way too hard. "But if it happens in a hotel, infinite questions will be raised. It has to be once she comes back. If it's inside this house, Blake will never let the truth out. Remember what happened with Mark Jennings?"_ _

__Fallon's eyes went wide, mistakenly attributing what happened to Cristal and Mark as having something to do with Ada. But Kirby held a hand up when Fallon opened her mouth to speak._ _

__Adam's voice sounded again: "We need her out of the way, don't we? I can make it look like an accident. And even if they don't believe it, Steven and Sam are moving soon. Blake wouldn't allow much of an inquiry, from what I've seen."_ _

__By the time Kirby reached over and pressed pause on the recording, Fallon had torn herself away from Liam and was standing several feet away, her mind almost visibly working. "Fallon-"_ _

__"Don't," the brunette held a hand up, sharp and aggressive. Liam, who'd started getting up, sat back down. "So they're going to try and make me come home for something. I just... can't. No matter what it is."_ _

__"Your father will be furious," Kirby pointed out._ _

__But Fallon wasn't entirely sure. "Will he? He's kicked me out before, and this time, I'm already gone. If anything, this should be easier."_ _

__"Fal..." Liam frowned, sympathizing despite the fact that he wasn't there for the Thanksgiving she was referring to._ _

__"It's fine! I'm- I'm fine, really."_ _

__Neither of them seemed to be buying it, but Liam shot Kirby a look when Fallon turned away. Taking the hint, Kirby packed up her laptop and went into her room, shutting the door to give them a moment. He waited a few seconds before finally standing up and walking over to her. She'd crossed her arms and was staring out the window at downtown Atlanta, but when he reached an arm around her waist, Fallon turned towards him._ _

__"We're not going to let anything happen, Fallon. You know that."_ _

__"We don't even know what he means," she pointed out, though she didn't look convinced that he meant something less-than-terrible._ _

__He sighed, but drew her further in against his chest. Fallon dropped her chin on his shoulder. "I think it's clear they don't have anything good in mind. But there was no mention of Michael, even after what you heard. He probably doesn't know, Fal."_ _

__"But he's still working with someone like her. It's unbelievable. He knows what she's done. Is this really a stretch?"_ _

__Liam shook his head a little. "But what's the point in trying something like that? Does he really think Blake wouldn't say anything?"_ _

__"I don't know... Maybe Sam was right, and he just wants the Carrington lifestyle to himself. Steven wouldn't care about giving it up, that's obvious. So I guess I'm the one that's a problem."_ _

__He stepped back, lifting his hands to her cheeks. "You're not going back there until we find a way to get Adam out. Why don't we just show the audio the your father? Or to Cristal?"_ _

__"We can, but what are they going to do? And what if Ada has him do something to Cristal? Or Steven? Or Anders? What if she finds some way to get Blake to alter his will, and then Adam does... something, so Adam can make sure he gets all of the inheritance? I don't need the money or anything, but as soon as Adam gets that, what's the point in keeping any of us around?"_ _

__"... Who can we go to with this, then?"_ _

__Fallon shook her head out of Liam's gentle hold, starting to pace. "Anders, maybe? Not Sam. He'd be terrified, and rightly so. Cristal can keep a secret, but she'd be worried for Blake and the rest of us. Michael... I don't know what he'd think. But he's the only one who knows her, isn't he? Besides Adam?"_ _

__"If you trust him, then I think you ought to take your best shot." Liam looked at her with a truly open expression that she hadn't expected when it came to Culhane. And that clearly showed in her reaction. "Fallon, you don't just stop loving someone completely. There may be bad blood there, but do you really think he would just let Adam hurt you? Much less- … what that sounded like he meant?"_ _

__"No, I don't. But do we go to him straight away? Or let them think we don't know? He said he wasn't going to do it while I'm staying here, but... I hate that he knows where we are. Especially Kirby. He's right, if something happened to someone in a hotel like this, everyone would know. But Kirby's at risk as long as she's with me."_ _

__Liam leaned back against the table by the phone, watching as she finally gave up her pacing and came to a stop in front of him. His hands reached for hers, and she took hold without hesitation._ _

__"She can stay with Jeff," Fallon mused. "And then I'm going to find a new place to stay, but pretend I'm still here... somehow."_ _

__"You're not going to keep going to the office, are you?"_ _

__"Not after we talk to Michael tomorrow, no."_ _

__He nodded slowly, taking in the anxiety that Fallon was allowing to cover up her deep fear. She was stronger than anybody he'd ever known, and that was only one of the many reasons why he loved her as much as he did. "Come to New York with me."_ _

__Fallon blinked, her mouth opening a little. "What if something happens while we're gone?"_ _

__"It's a short flight. But it was just an idea," he backtracked. "You know better than I do what your family would need."_ _

__"I'll think about it," she promised quietly._ _

__Silence fell over them for a touch too long, so Liam started to think that maybe she just needed time to process. "... Maybe I should go," he offered reluctantly. "You should get some rest if we're going to talk to Culhane tomorrow."_ _

__Fallon tilted her head to the side, but let go with one hand to reach up and brush her fingers through his hair. "Stay with me?"_ _

__"...Fal, I meant what I said before. I don't want to push things with you."_ _

__"I know," she confirmed, even as he stepped around her with the intention of heading for the door. "But I don't want you to go."_ _

__Liam of course had to admit that he wished he didn't feel so conflicted. He wanted to do it right this time, so it would feel as real as they said it was. He did. But she was looking at him with those beautiful eyes of hers, and they were so deeply sad. He hated seeing her that way._ _

__"I shouldn't," Liam decided, offering a hand that she refused to take now that he'd released her. He could practically see the way she started to build her defenses back up, preparing to block him out again. "Fallon. Seriously, I don't think it's right for me to- I mean, you're hurting. I won't take advantage of you after we nearly went through with that at the divorce party. You clearly would've regretted it."_ _

__"Liam, just stop talking," she snapped, her eyes narrowing. "You aren't listening to me, you're just assuming things. If you're going to keep doing that, then you _should_ go. I get this protective thing from every other man who thinks they know what I want, and I never saw you that way. I don't need that right now. Especially not from you."_ _

__He faltered, surprised but trying to figure out how things had gotten mixed up. He'd never intended to be that kind of guy, yet apparently he had? "I want to listen, Fal. Tell me what you meant."_ _

__She hesitated, fidgeting and twisting her hands in front of her, before she finally just looked away. Liam determined that she didn't really want him to go, obviously, so he took another step towards her, waiting patiently. Eventually, she seemed to find her voice again, but it was quiet – almost frail._ _

__"...I'm scared. I know Kirby's here, but... I don't know."_ _

__Liam had always been aware of this part of her, and he couldn't even begin to blame her for it. She'd been kidnapped and had literally stepped in front of her father when a gun was pointed at him – not that Blake had evidently acknowledged that, according to how he'd heard the story from Sam. At some point, Fallon was bound to reach her limit, wasn't she? Evidently, being threatened by a brother she never believed was even still around – that did it._ _

__And she just wanted him there for the comfort of having him nearby, even if he would never need to intervene between her and Adam or Ada. Liam had no idea what he would actually do if it came to that, but he'd almost gotten into a full-on fight with Jeff once, despite trying to keep his identity secret. So it would inevitably come to him in the moment if he needed it._ _

__"Okay," he said quietly, reaching out to try and coax her back into his arms. She came willingly that time, leaning into him and curling both of her arms around one of his. He sort of cocooned her as best as he could, appreciating the way she tucked her head under his chin while still keeping a tight hold on his arm as if to say she wouldn't let him come into harm's way, either. Or perhaps to maintain some sort of control? Liam didn't care which. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I can stay."_ _

__She nodded against his chest, her cheek squished against him. And though it took some time before either of them were ready to move, he eventually ended up sitting in bed while she went through her bathroom routine, wondering if there was anything else he could or should say to fend off her fears, at least for the moment. But how could he really do that? It sounded quite plainly like Adam was out to get Fallon, and while Liam couldn't work out that thought process for himself, he didn't want to wait for the guy to decide it was time to go through with it._ _

__When Fallon climbed into bed next to him and pulled the sheets up around them, she rolled onto her side and dropped her head against his upper arm. Her fingers slid between his to hold his hand tightly, and he reached across himself to comb through her hair with his fingers._ _

__"You're gonna be just fine, Fallon. I promise."_ _

__"But you can't," she argued, tilting her head back to look up at him. Liam was instantly aware of the concern behind her gaze, which was momentarily overpowering her fear. "Nobody can promise that."_ _

__He frowned slightly. She was right, as usual. "No, that's fair. But I can promise you that if it comes down to it, I'll do what I have to in order to keep you safe."_ _

__She considered that for a moment before tilting her chin back down and shifting a little against his arm to get comfortable. "Yeah, me too."_ _

__All at once, he both hated hearing that, but also loved it. Loved her. And he didn't hesitate to tell her so. He wouldn't, anymore._ _

__"I love you, too," she replied easily, bringing a smile to his face that belied the tone of their conversation. He started to close his eyes, and tried to pretend that sleep would come easy. That is, until she blurted something out that Liam wasn't actually convinced she meant to say aloud. "Please don't give up on me again. Don't leave."_ _

__"I won't." He squeezed her hand, waiting for her to return the gesture before continuing. "...I must be the luckiest divorcé in the world," he added, hoping to lighten her mood._ _

__"Oh?"_ _

__"Yeah. Most people hate their former spouses, don't they? While I'm falling more in love with mine every day. And sometimes, when I'm not being more stubborn than her, she even loves me back."_ _

__Fallon swatted at him lightly. "There's no _sometimes_ about it, Liam, and you know it."_ _

__"I do," he agreed._ _


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 10, 2019

The next morning, Kirby woke earlier than she ever really wanted to. But she had to make sure Fallon didn't leave for work without telling her what their plan was. But she was halfway through her breakfast when Fallon's door opened and Liam walked out, wearing what he'd had on the day before.

"Hi," she greeted, a little too upbeat and curious.

Liam frowned slightly, turning to give Fallon room to step past him and into the kitchen with Kirby.

"Don't get all weird today," Fallon warned the redhead. "We need you to come up to the office. Jeff is going to meet us there after we talk to Michael."

"Jeff?"

Fallon nodded. "You'll need to pack whatever you want to have access to. You can't stay here anymore."

Kirby stood up, clearly upset by the declaration. "You can't just kick me out."

"Well, actually I can. I'm paying for this suite, for starters." Fallon lifted an eyebrow, as if daring Kirby to argue with her, but Liam cleared his throat and she sighed, finally getting to the real heart of the matter. "More importantly, the odds of someone hurting you go way down if you're staying with Jeff. He has no association with Ada anymore, and she wouldn't expect him to go after her after how hurt he was."

Kirby didn't respond, which Fallon interpreted as acceptance due to the lack of argument, so Liam stepped up to Fallon's side. "I need to go back and change, but I'll let you know when I get there. We're not telling him that you're not-?"

"No. It's better if he still thinks I am. He'll want to keep up that protective side," she told them. "And he _really_ can't know about us."

At that, Kirby did speak up. "Hopefully you're good at faking jealousy."

Liam's jaw tightened. "I wouldn't call it fake."

Fallon turned to him, kissing his cheek. "Go get changed. We'll see you later."

He nodded, giving her arm a light squeeze and passing a nod in Kirby's direction, before heading out. Several minutes afterwards, Fallon and Kirby climbed into a cab with Fallon's work bag and the suitcase Kirby had packed.

\--------------------

At the office, Kirby went downstairs to wait with Liam, leaving her laptop behind so Fallon could bring it with her to knock on Culhane's office door. When the door opened, however, he saw her and started to close it back. But Fallon stuck a hand out, quickly speaking up. "Michael." She glanced up and down the hallway, putting on an expression that wasn't strictly fake, as her fear made itself known. "I'm in trouble. I need your help."

He frowned, and though he didn't push the door again, he didn't open it either. "Trouble? What did you do this time?"

"Michael, please. Just... hear me out. I think- I think someone's out to get me. And not figuratively."

He was taken aback, to be sure, but Michael stepped aside to let her in, then closed the door behind her. Fallon waited, knowing that she needed him to run this conversation if she wanted to make him believe her. So until he pointed at one of the chairs, she didn't sit down.

"Explain," he told her.

Fallon sighed, setting the laptop on his desk but not pressing play just yet. "I don't remember if I told you about Adam," she began slowly, having thought through the way she wanted to go about this. "But there's something really... unnerving about him. I get this terrible feeling when he gets close to me. And now Sam's saying that Adam is trying to get Steven to move away, which is a terrible idea when he isn't really back to being himself, yet-"

"Fallon, what does this have to do with you being in trouble?"

"... The room Adam's staying in? It's bugged," she said simply, her tone and expression grave. "And it turns out, he's working with someone to hurt our family. It really is Adam this time, and it sounds like all he wants is to make sure he gets the Carrington inheritance. Blake wrote Steven and I out a while back, and as soon as Adam figures out how to get his name on that will, he won't need anybody around anymore."

Michael lifted his eyebrow, either acting or genuinely unconvinced. "You think your brother wants to off your dad?"

"Well, not yet."

"But you just said-"

"Yeah, but, somehow he's teamed up with..." She glanced down, acting reluctant to bring up his past. "He called that woman who blackmailed us. I don't know what she has against my family, considering I never actually did anything to her," Fallon went on, her voice becoming angry and vehement with her fake confusion. "But apparently they think I'd stand in the way of him getting what he wants. And rightly so."

She turned the laptop towards him, pressing play.

"It's not Blake he's after right now," she said, before falling silent so he could listen to what she'd heard the night before. By the end of it, she was just staring at the laptop, almost having forgotten just how cold and tense his words had made her feel. She forgot to press pause on the audio, but Michael had evidently had enough because he reached out and stopped it himself.

"...Fallon..."

She shook her head a little, snatching the laptop back and shutting it in her lap, her hands anxiously running along the edges of it. "It's not the first time someone's tried something like this, I guess. But now I can't go home, I can't tell any of them... She's going to get away with it, isn't she? They both will."

Culhane sat forward, frowning at her. "I've never known you to give up. Why now?"

"Well... if I don't go home, I can't keep an eye on Blake, or talk him out of doing something foolish like giving Adam what he wants. But if I go home, then..." She shrugged. "I mean, I have the opportunity to travel to New York for a week, but Lord knows what would happen before I got back. Maybe I should put my own safety first, and just go, but... Our entire family, entire staff – they're all in danger, now, and I can't even fix it."

She was trying to get him to admit his participation in Ada's ventures, but she couldn't tell what was happening behind his eyes. She started shifting in her chair, wondering if a minor freakout would push him over the edge. But maybe he was never going to help her. Maybe she'd offered her hand and now Ada would know, and she would be done for twice as fast.

"Is Jeff's cousin still Chief of Police?" He asked out of nowhere.

Fallon blinked. "Bobbi Johnson...? Of course. Why?"

He hesitated slightly, but turned a deeply serious gaze her way. "If I leave an anonymous tip about where to find Ada and her warehouses... maybe Adam won't have the help he seems to need."

Shocked as she was, Fallon tried to hide her amazement. "Would he not just make a move if he feels threatened?"

"I think you should go to her with this recording."

Fallon wasn't entirely convinced, as evidenced by her blank stare. "What, today?"

"Yeah. Now, in fact."

She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Regardless of what we've done to each other, I'm choosing to trust that you'll call her," she said, trying to sound vaguely threatening despite not feeling confident that he would hold up his end of the deal.

"Show of good faith," he offered, picking up the office phone and placing a call to Bobbi's office. Holding a finger up to his lips to tell Fallon to keep quiet, Michael put the call on speaker to anonymously deliver Ada Stone's name, addresses for her, and what they should expect to find in the various locations. He even gave them times of day that they ought to go by in order to catch her or avoid her, depending on how they wanted to go about it.

When he hung up, she was still staring at him. "Thank you," she said genuinely, standing up on the instinct to approach and hug him. If this worked, the odds were that his decision would be the one that led to Fallon being able to protect her family, and protect herself from Adam.

Downstairs, Kirby and Liam were listening in over the phone Fallon had slipped into her pocket, and both sank back in their chairs with relief at what they heard. That is, until it became incredibly quiet, before they heard Fallon gasp.

"Michael," she warned slowly. "I was serious before..."

Kirby's eyes drifted towards Liam, wondering if he'd picked up like she had on what had happened. The jealousy on his face suggested he had.

"After what happened the other day," Fallon continued, "you have to know we could never go back."

"I didn't mean what I said," Culhane claimed. But his voice was getting farther away from Fallon's phone, which had Liam slightly less irked as he assumed she'd pulled or walked away.

"Maybe," she replied. "But you still said it." They heard her packing things away – the laptop, certainly – before she spoke again. "I'm going to head over to turn Adam in right now. Should I text you afterwards?"

"Yeah." There was a brief pause before, "It's him, isn't it? For you."

Maybe Liam imagined it, but he thought he heard a hint of a smile in Fallon's voice when she answered with, "Yeah. It's been him for a while. And I think deep down we both knew that. I'm still sorry, though. I tried to be what you wanted, but it just wasn't easy the way it should've been."

"It's easy with him?"

Liam sat forward in his office, brow furrowed.

"... It is. I can't give you an exact reason why, because I don't know. Some part of me will always love you, Michael, because you were there for me when nobody else was. When nobody else even tried. But I don't think it was ever meant to last. I messed us up far too thoroughly for that..."

"It wasn't all you, Fallon," Michael replied.

"Still. We handled it badly. So I'm going to go take care of this, and if Ada brings your name up... I'll vouch for you. I'm sure they'll find it in her documents, but I'll tell investigators what happened, I'll- I mean, I didn't really do anything, right? It was an accident. And if the entire truth is presented, then... we should both be fine."

\-------------------

When Fallon showed up in Liam's office, Kirby was sitting off to the side as they waited in silence. Liam stood when the door opened, only for Fallon to walk straight up to him and kiss him. Kirby stared, and when Liam pulled back, he did the same.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," Fallon told him immediately, not wanting to leave room for him to brood about anything.

"I'm not," he replied, shaking his head. "I needed to." Liam stepped back, but took her hand in his. Fallon squeezed his hand in return, looking anxious. "We need to get going. If they find Ada first, she could say any number of things. We need this audio proof on the record first. And Kirby, you need to go with Jeff."

"I still would rather help," Kirby pointed out sort of petulantly, her frustration best shown through the crossed arms and narrowed eyes.

"And I would rather you not die," Fallon snapped, unable to understand why her new friend was so determined to risk herself like that. It hadn't occurred to her that people like Kirby wanted to be there for their friends, much like Liam did for Fallon, or Fallon herself had for Sam in the past.

Kirby rolled her eyes as if to say she thought Fallon was being overdramatic, but she picked up her bag anyway. "At least give me my laptop back after they get the audio off of it? Then I'd have something to do."

"Of course," Liam agreed, eager to stop the argument and get out of there. "Come on."

He gestured towards the door and they walked out to the elevators, then through the lobby, making sure Kirby was safe with Jeff before Liam and Fallon made their way to the precinct's headquarters.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 13, 2019

After meeting with Bobbi about the audio they'd saved, Fallon and Liam were directed into a vehicle with her, and answered various questions on the way to the Carrington estate. As shocked as the Police Chief was, Bobbi obviously knew the sort of record the family had as far as dangers and attracting crazy outsiders. Fallon herself had been nearly rescued by Bobbi during the kidnapping, after all.

"We didn't even know he was still around after Hank pretended to be Adam previously," Fallon was saying as they pulled into the driveway. "I'd guess that they're home from work by now, but they might not be."

"Well," Bobbi replied, as stern and matter-of-fact as ever, "we will see to it that he is taken in for questioning - along with any devices he may be using to contact this Stone woman."

Fallon gripped Liam's hand a little tighter at the thought she nearly voiced: Blake wouldn't like that. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand soothingly, but had yet to speak up, as none of the questions were really directed at him. Apart from the obvious one of whether Liam knew Adam or not. He'd offered a brief _No_ , also noting that he had only met Ada herself for a few moments, but she was undercover so he had pretended he was unaware.

At their first mention of Ada back at her office, Bobbi had admitted they'd received an anonymous call earlier that day, and Fallon just feigned surprise at the idea.

But as they pulled up to the front door, a second police car coming up behind them, Bobbi got out and Fallon turned to Liam. "I think you should wait here," she told him. "If we show up together, it'll distract them or make us into targets, and I'd rather just focus on this for now and tell them afterwards."

He looked conflicted, as he of course wanted to be there to stand up for her if Adam tried anything, but he didn't argue it. "Okay. Just call me if you need anything."

Fallon agreed, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before getting out and following Bobbi to the door. Rather than knocking, however, Fallon let Bobbi in herself. She aimed towards Blake's office, peeking in and bracing herself when she saw him. Bobbi held out a hand, however, and silently told Fallon she needed to go first. The younger woman stepped out of the way so the Police Chief could knock.

Blake looked up, raising an eyebrow. "I'm sorry," he said when he saw Bobbi. "I didn't hear anyone at the front door."

"Your daughter let me in," Bobbi explained.

He sat back in his chair, casual as anything. "Is she back? I hadn't realized. What can I do for you?"

Bobbi walked in, gesturing for Fallon to join her. "I'm here because we have reason to believe someone is preparing to threaten Fallon's life."

Fallon flinched slightly as Blake pressed his hands into the desk and pushed himself up. "Excuse me? Who?"

Bobbi looked to Fallon, who eventually nodded. It was time to just get this over with. "Well, there is a woman named Ada Stone, who is working with your son, Adam—"

"What." Blake's eyes narrowed, but it wasn't a question. It was an expectation that someone was lying or pranking him.

Fallon spoke up, then. "She's the woman that blackmailed me and Michael. The one who made him work for her, and hurt Jeff. She wants access to the family for some reason—"

"What did she have on you?" Blake asked, crossing his arms challengingly.

Fallon turned red in both anger and embarrassment. She hadn't wanted to go over this again. It had been hard enough to tell Liam, and now she had to do it in front of the Chief of Police? "... When I was in New York to finalize the sale of CA, Liam's uncle said the only way he would sign the contract was if I slept with him. I obviously didn't, but... someone who looked very similar to me tried to trick him into signing it, and while they were there, he had a heart attack. And didn't make it. Apparently, Ada had the means to twist what happened to make it look like I'd somehow made him have that heart attack, not that I'd even begin to know how."

"So," Blake began slowly, "you've decided that because you don't like your brother, you're going to associate him with her?"

"What? Dad, no-"

"Anders!"

Fallon followed Blake's gaze to the door, which opened moments later as Anders came through the door. "Yes sir? Ah, Fallon. Are you and Kirby back?"

"Well, no," she answered slowly. "Kirby is staying with a friend for now. We don't think it's safe for her to be here at the moment."

"Safe?" Blake scoffed, shaking his head. "You've been determined to get rid of Adam since he got here-"

"Blake, come on!" Fallon groaned, unable to accept that he wouldn't hear her out.

Bobbi quickly stepped out into the foyer for some semblance of quiet, and explained everything to Anders, who looked rather livid by the end, his attention focused in on the door Fallon was now standing behind, who he'd practically raised over the years alongside her parents. Perhaps even more than them.

"I believe he is in his room," Anders said stiffly. "Would you like to join me?"

He and Bobbi started up the stairs, and upon hearing them do so, Fallon started to follow them before Blake spoke up, stopping her.

"Why would you do this?" He asked, suddenly calm and quiet.

"... What? You mean why would Adam do something like this."

Blake shook his head. "No, framing your brother and associating him with a blackmailing thief is over the line."

"I'm not framing him, Dad! He wants me and Steven out of the way, probably so he can get his name on your will. And as soon as he does that, why bother keeping any of us around?"

"He already is in my will."

Fallon froze, staring at him. "Since when?"

"A few nights ago, when he joined Atlantix. And nothing has happened. So why would he bother threatening you?"

"I don't know," she replied, frowning deeply. "Maybe he thinks I didn't deserve the childhood I had after his was taken from him? He already got Steven to leave, so maybe I'm next. But I obviously wouldn't go quietly. And that's clearly why he said he has to do something to me and make it look like an accident. That hardly sounds like a loving brother."

"Maybe he's right in thinking that you're going to get in the way, here."

She had started to turn, still wanting to go out into the foyer to listen for anything happening upstairs. But she slowly looked over at him again, taken aback. "Why?" She asked, at little more than a whisper. "Why have I never been enough for you? Because I'm not Adam? Because I'm a girl? I am so much like you that people can't even believe it, and I do absolutely everything I can — for you. Yet I've never measured up to this imaginary, perfect version of Adam. Now that it turns out he's a monster, you're fine with him wanting to harm your only daughter?"

"Things taken out of context can be misinterpreted, Fallon. I'm sure when they question him I'll be able to post bail and you'll see that you're overreacting."

"Wow. You couldn't answer a single one of those questions." Fallon shook her head, wishing she'd somehow been wrong about the direction she predicted the conversation would take. "...I'm not exactly surprised, considering everything you've made me do in the name of this family."

"Everything you do, you do it for yourself and you know it."

"That is so not true!" She shouted, stepping towards him as if aggression would make him finally hear him. "Whatever I did to make you hate me, I'm sorry! Maybe I'm too much like Mom, and that hurt you after she left, but I don't deserve this. My whole life thus far has been about proving myself, and trying to earn some value in your eyes." She hesitated, taking a deep breath. "You've kicked me out before, and I doubt you'll choose not to do the same thing again after this. But— do you remember when you got drunk after Grandpa died, and you said you loved me?"

He didn't react, but she continued anyway, voice dropping to an almost hateful growl.

"I don't believe you."

His suspicious look turned into a glare as she headed towards the door. But Fallon stopped at the last second, looking back at him.

"I know you won't care about this, but I do: I'm dating Liam now. For real." She lifted her chin at his bored eye roll. "I love him. And he loves me far more than anyone in this house ever has."

Then she stormed out, and nearly ran into Anders in the foyer. "Sorry, Ms. Carrington," he said, though he kept his arm out to block her way as Adam was taken through the front door by Bobbi and one of her officers.

Fallon locked eyes with him, silently daring Adam to say something or make a scene. He just scowled back at her as he was shoved through the front door in handcuffs. Bobbi was carrying a bag of what must've been considered evidence, and she gestured for Fallon to come with them.

"Thanks, Anders," Fallon said. "Kirby's safe, I promise."

He nodded his gratitude. "Tell her I said hello."

"I will. Do the same for Cristal and Alexis, from me, won't you? They need to know about Adam, but not from dad." Fallon sighed quietly. "But...I'm glad you'll be here for Blake. I just can't be anymore."

"I know. It was bound to happen eventually," Anders replied, gesturing towards the door. "I'll have the staff begin packing the rest of your things. Let me know when you'd like to retrieve them."

She offered a final thanks before stepping outside. It took a moment, but she could feel her father staring after them all through the window of his office. She glanced back, but merely walked up to Liam, who must've gotten out of the car in his impatience to know what was happening inside.

"Let's go," she told him, her voice sad despite the pretense she put on visibly.

Liam helped her into the car, then climbed in behind her, waiting for Fallon to decide that she wanted to tell him what had happened.

In the end, she just asked, "There isn't an empty seat on that plane next to yours, is there?"

He sighed at the understanding of what the question meant, but said, "I'll change my ticket and get two instead."

"Monday?"

"Monday."

She stared out the window, leaning against him as Bobbi got in and began the drive back to her office. They were quiet until they arrived, had filled out a bit more paperwork, and were released.

"Where to?" Liam asked. "The hotel?"

"I guess? Ada knows I'm staying there, though. Maybe I ought to pack up and go to a different one."

"Maybe." He shifted his weight, sliding his hands into his pockets as he worked up the nerve to say what came out next. "I mean... if you want to stay with me until you find a place, that's fine."

She lifted her eyes from her nails, her fidgeting slowing down until she was gazing at him curiously. "Are you sure?"

"You don't have to move in permanently or anything if you don't want to—"

"Are you saying you'd want me to, though?"

Liam reached up to the back of his neck, rubbing at it anxiously. "I've waited this long, Fal. I'm not trying to rush you into anything. I'm just saying, I wouldn't mind it."

Fallon stepped forward and drew him into a slow, gentle kiss - one that she hoped made her appreciation for him clear. He pulled his other hand free of his pocket to slide it across her back and bring her closer. It didn't last as long as she wanted, but she needed to answer him. "Maybe we just consider this a trial period? It's probably good to know now, before we spend a week in New York."

"Wow, a whole two days," he teased. "I'll know everything by then." She rolled her eyes at him, so he just wrapped his arm a little more tightly around her. "I'm sure it'll be fine, Fallon."

"Let's go, then. I can be packed and out of there before dinner."

Smiling broadly, Liam flagged down a cab and hoped that by the time they left on Monday, everything would be taken care of so Fallon wouldn't have to worry about Adam or Ada or Culhane at all.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 19, 2019

Just as Fallon had said she'd be, she was done packing and ready to go within an hour of their return to the hotel room. She was debating, however, whether or not she ought to actually check out. If Ada was caught that night, then one night of extra pay to cover a little bit wouldn't be so bad. But if Ada was really keeping an eye on Fallon, then she would know anyway. In the end, Liam talked her into just checking out, saying that they could take a roundabout drive home if that made her feel better. It certainly did.

More relevant, in some ways, was the word he'd used. Home. It felt so strange that the term no longer meant her family's manor, but it felt stranger that Liam was suggesting that his home was in some way hers, now. Sure, that was kind of the plan, but it felt early for him to be so casual about it.

In the cab, Liam made up a story about wanting to show Fallon a specific building downtown, saying he'd pay whatever the extra fee was to go to his apartment by way of that spot. Much to Fallon's amusement, he even kept up the charade, pointing things out as if she were new to Atlanta. It wasn't until they reached the pretend building of interest that she realized why he was doing it.

Fallon leaned against him, setting her chin carefully atop his shoulder as if she were looking outside. But really, she did so in order to quietly mumble into his ear, "You're not as sneaky as you think you are."

He turned his chin enough to look at her out of the corner of his eye. "Oh?"

"You're trying to distract me," she accused, though she clearly wasn't bothered by it.

She watched as a small smile grew across Liam's face when he looked out the window again. "Is it working?"

A slight nod was the only answer she gave before he started up again, playing the game until the cab pulled to a stop and Liam paid the driver so they could get out and head up to his place. Their place? Odd, that they were only just arriving and it felt so surreal already. It wasn't until they got into the elevator that Fallon felt the tension between them. She almost couldn't look at him, because she knew full well he was going to bring up their decision to do things 'properly' if she so much as suggested anything physical. She hadn't expected to regret that decision so soon.

The elevator doors opened but the silence carried on as he picked up a bag and led her towards the door she'd shown up at a few times before. This time, however, she was welcome, and expected. Liam unlocked the door and stepped aside so she could walk in first. She let her bags down off to the side, assuming he'd tell her where to put them later.

He followed her in, set the last bag down, and closed the door behind them. When he locked the door out of habit as well as for safety, they both sort of froze, not quite looking at each other. Until they attempted to say each other's name at the same time, and Liam let out a quiet laugh.

"This is ridiculous," he decided, shaking his head.

Fallon lifted her chin to look at him, almost disappointed. "Is it? You're the one who said we had fantastic chemistry. Unless you're suggesting that something's changed-"

"As if," Liam cut in quickly, not even giving her a moment to start thinking that.

She lifted an eyebrow, but couldn't hold back the smile that emerged. "... Good."

Fallon watched the way he swallowed hard, thinking for a moment there that maybe they were both going to snap and just go for it. But then he shook his head and picked up all of the bags himself, taking them through an open door.

"In here," he told her.

She followed him into the bedroom, and just stopped in the doorway, smirking. "You're really sending some mixed signals here, Liam," she teased, crossing her arms and leaning against the doorframe. "In all seriousness, I don't want you to turn around and tell me you're going to take the couch."

"... Pillow wall?"

Fallon shook her head as he laughed at the irony of how far they'd come. "You're not getting relegated anywhere in your own home. I don't remember the last time I slept on a couch, but yours looks pretty nice, so-"

"Don't be silly," he told her, stepping up to usher her further into the room. "Make yourself at home, Fal. I mean it."

She stepped further in, yes, but then she turned around to face him, leaving hardly a breath of space between them. "Thank you," she said quietly, at hardly more than an earnest whisper.

By way of explanation, he just said, "I love you."

And that was all it took for Fallon. She offered a breathy, "I love you, too," before reaching out to draw him into a fervent kiss. It was incredibly different from the one outside of the precinct, because alongside the things she was trying to tell him on an emotional level, there was instantly months of repressed desire that made itself known. From both of them.

He was shocked, that was clear. But it took mere moments for him to pull her flush against him, and for Fallon to wrap her arms around his neck as she sighed into the kiss. It wasn't until she took a step back towards the bed that he broke the kiss, making Fallon groan in complaint.

"Calm down," he told her with a chuckle. "The bags are right behind you."

Fallon looked around, realizing she was, indeed, going to trip if he let her go any further. "Predictable," she muttered, frowning as she turned back towards him, her hands dropping to her hips.

Liam gently took hold of her upper arms, guiding her away from the obstruction and towards the bed, where he sat on the edge and took her hands. "I'm not pushing. We don't have to, but-"

"Stop talking."

Fallon settled herself in his lap before drawing her hands away from his so she could push at his shoulders and lean over him.

And despite earlier talks of dinner, neither of them seemed to remember until much later, when Fallon heard his stomach growl in the quiet that followed, and let out a soft, surprised laugh. She was more surprised by what had just happened than the sound itself, but she tilted her chin back atop his chest to smirk up at him.

"Hungry?" He asked, smiling back as he combed through her hair with his fingers. When she shrugged but nodded, he sat up, helping her do the same. "Come on. I'll show you where to find everything."

Liam accepted her lingering kiss before climbing out of bed and starting to get dressed again. But Fallon reached out and snatched his shirt from him, pulling it on and taking his hand to make their way into the kitchen.

Though Liam tried to convince Fallon to let him teach her something, she charmed her way into just sitting on the counter and watching for a while. It wasn't until Liam started plating things up to hand some over to her that he realized she'd zoned out.

He brushed the backs of his fingers against her leg to try and get her attention. "Lost in thought?"

Fallon looked down at him, a slight frown appearing. "Not intentionally. It's just... This is great, and I'm glad I'm here. At the same time, though, I'm really nervous. Not- not about us. About Ada. And what she'll say or do once she's caught."

He sighed, setting the plate down and leaning against the counter next to her. "I know."

She lifted a hand to reach for him, but hesitated, only for Liam to quickly make up the distance for her. Once he had a hold on her, though, Fallon squeezed his hand tightly. "Liam, if things start to come out about me, whether or not Ada's framing it badly, … I would understand if you felt differently somehow."

"Impossible," he assured her. "If you think someone like Ada is going to affect the way I see you, that's crazy."

"I know I mentioned the article about me. But this could be far worse. And the people in your life? They might care."

Liam shook his head firmly. "Doesn't matter. Not to me."

Fallon's free hand found his cheek as she leaned down to kiss him. Whether or not she believed that he was right to see her that way, it meant the world to her that he claimed to. That he acted like it was true. So when she pulled back, she hopped down and picked up her plate, suggesting they put something on the television to distract them.

As they settled in and Fallon finally tried Liam's cooking with the intention to actually try and appreciate it, she found herself shocked. "This is incredible," she complimented enthusiastically, looking over at him in appreciation. A smirk appeared as he smiled with a bit of embarrassment, nodding his head. "Maybe once we escape CA I should look into the restaurant business. If you get tired of writing and ever need a job..."

Liam chuckled quietly but shook his head. "The restaurant industry is not always profitable, and you know that. There wouldn't be time for anything outside of it – not writing, or any of your other venture ideas. Besides, I'm surprised you don't want to move somewhere fresh and take over the city's energy plans."

Fallon's face fell slightly. "I'd have to get Morell Corp back from CA. And I doubt your mother would encourage the board to help me do that."

He let out a quiet _hmm_ but didn't confirm or deny her theory. Instead, he just redirected her attention to their show again.

Early the next morning, Fallon tried to ignore the buzzing of her phone, but Liam's confused sound of complaint led her to reach over him to the bedside table to pick it up. He pulled her closer against her side as she dropped her arm against his chest to unlock her phone.

"It's Michael," she told him, earning a surprised look once Liam opened his eyes. "Ada's been arrested."

His confusion turned into joy at the announcement. "Yeah?"

Fallon flicked over to the dial tab to call Michael, putting it on speaker. The look on Liam's face suggested he didn't think Culhane should know he was there. When Michael answered, Fallon immediately started bombarding him with questions.

"Well," Culhane began, "turns out Ada Stone is just an alias. She's been wanted for a while now, though not in Georgia. So hiding out apparently did her some good for a while."

"What about you, though?" Fallon pressed.

"They haven't asked me to come in yet. She might suspect that I'd just screw her over."

Fallon frowned. "As you should."

Michael agreed, and after a few more confirmations that they were going through all of her files to rack up charges against her, they hung up after a final, earnest thank you on her part. Then Fallon dropped her head back on the pillow next to Liam, looking over at him.

"... I think this sort of means we're free, now. From CA, at least."

He nodded, rolling onto his side to lean over her, his arm draping over her waist. "I might just call in right now."

"Yeah? Let's do it."

He was rather amazed by her excitement about being unemployed again, but half an hour later, they had both sent in their resignation letters. Fallon closed her laptop and turned to face him.

"Now what?" She teased.

He didn't match her expression, instead turning serious as he reached over, taking her laptop and setting it aside. Fallon lifted an eyebrow in question, but she already knew, really, what he was up to. A smirk rose to match his smile before he caught her lips with his, and she went willingly when he leaned her back on the bed, her hands drawing him in as he settled over her.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 21, 2019

Monday morning before their flight, Liam packed up the last thing from his office at CA, setting it in the box on top of his desk. Fallon walked over to drop a stapler in, smiling softly at the picture in the frame he'd just put in. "I took that, didn't I?" She asked, looking between it and him.

"One of the few that weren't of you," he teased.

Fallon shrugged, nudging his shoulder with hers. "That look on your face was because of me," she reminded him, gesturing towards the joy and amusement on his face in the image. "So I'd stay it technically still doesn't count as one of those few."

"Uh-uh," he offered placatingly, leaning in with the intention of kissing her.

The office door opened and the pair looked up in surprise, unsure who to expect. It was Laura, who was clearly in a foul mood. As ever, it seemed. But she looked between the newly-reestablished couple suspiciously. "So," Laura started sharply, closing the door behind her. "You two both quit on the same day? Why might that be?"

Fallon's eyebrows lifted, clearly ready to take the defensive, but Liam held up a hand to try and placate both of them. "Mom, you knew neither of us planned to be here long-term. I've helped out here for weeks, and Fallon got us off the ground for Sales. We'll still be working on things during the notice we gave, but you should have plenty of time to fill the gaps while we're gone."

"Gone where?"

Disappointment tugged at Fallon's gut. Had he not told Laura about the meetings with his editor? Or did she just forget for lack of caring? Neither were really very good, given the circumstances. But Fallon was proud of him, and if he wasn't going to broach the subject, she sure as hell would. "Liam's meeting his editor in New York this week," she explained, her chin lifting as if to dare Laura's judgment to come out.

It did, predictably. "You said you both would be gone."

Liam sighed, looking down for a moment before stepping closer to Fallon and wrapping his arm around her waist. She turned her chin slightly towards him, a show of approval and deference as she waited for him to decide how he wanted to say it.

"Mom, Fallon and I are back together."

Right, Fallon reminded herself. Laura didn't know it was all a lie. While it wasn't a secret kept to just the pair of them, she sort of liked that it wasn't a large number of people who knew the truth.

Laura, openly taken aback, just stared for a moment. But then she shocked both of them beyond belief. "Well, finally."

"W-what?" Fallon asked, unable to fight the stuttering reaction.

"You heard what I said on the tennis court. My son always does the wrong thing. No matter what. Including letting you go. Clearly you got him back in line."

Liam ran his tongue along the bottom of his top teeth, managing to keep quiet. Fallon, of course, was back to her usual, aggressive self. At least he saw it coming, now.

"First off," Fallon started, attempting to step forward until Liam tugged her back against his side. "He came to me. And second, I'm the one that messed it up the first time. Every time we fought, it was because of me."

"Fal," he murmured, trying to counter her claims even though he knew she wouldn't let him.

She shook her head – at both him and his mother. "No, Liam. I mean it." She pointed her forefinger at Laura in a sort of warning. "You may have convinced him that you've changed, but you haven't convinced me. You need to learn to be supportive of your son. He loves you. And you full well know it."

A reluctant, amused smile slowly grew across Laura's face, suggesting that she indeed agreed with Fallon's assessment. And that just pissed the brunette off even more.

Fallon pulled away from Liam's hold, ignoring his sound of warning, and walked straight up to Laura. "You are so terrified that he'll be weak. Because _you_ were weak." She lifted her chin at Laura's furious, narrowed eyes. "If you think treating him this way has made him strong, you're only half right. He's strong in spite of you, not because of you."

"Fallon-" Liam attempted. But she held a hand up, refusing to back down until she'd gotten her point across.

"You couldn't handle things well enough and you know it. You sent this- this incredible man away, and you're surprised when he _stays_ away?" Fallon's tone cooled off enough to show a touch of weakness, hoping it would really get through to Laura. "I just gave up on my father. Don't push him hard enough that he has to give up on you."

Laura turned her head away, but Fallon couldn't tell if it was out of anger, or pain, or something else entirely. Behind her, Fallon heard Liam pick up the box and tuck it under his arm, coming up to take her hand.

"We should go, Fal."

He gave her hand a squeeze to make sure she came with him as he started to step around his mother and head to the door. Liam didn't look back, but Fallon did, shooting Laura a serious, warning look.

\-----------------------------

That afternoon, Fallon was sitting in her window seat, her fingers toying with the hand Liam had dropped into hers. Their first meeting was the next morning, with his editor about the potential of doing an audiobook for Liam's novel. It sounded exciting, and Fallon suspected that it wouldn't even be an option if they didn't expect his book to sell really well. Otherwise why hire the voice actor, do the editing, and whatever else it took to get that sort of thing done? But she wanted the editor to voice that, not her.

Particularly since he wouldn't let her read it.

It did make her wonder if he would really want her to be there for all of the meetings. Fallon supposed she could find other things to do. As she glanced over at Liam, she wondered if maybe she'd find her way to the Met, since he liked it so much. But actually she thought it would be much more interesting to go see it with him, instead. Fallon was quite convinced that, with that much adoration for the place, he could probably give her a pretty fantastic tour.

"Liam?" she asked, leaning towards the window so she could shift enough to sort of face him.

He lowered his right hand and the mass market paperback mystery novel he was holding with that hand. "Hmm?"

"We had a couple of... poor attempts at dates, before. I was thinking maybe I'd plan something for while we're here."

He lifted an eyebrow, impressed. "You think you can top a nearly-eaten, multi-course meal and a blow-up at a fashion show?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly, though it was with affection that she shook her head before replying, "I have some ideas."

He smiled, drawing her hand up to his lips. "Okay," he agreed easily. "Do your worst."

So he went back to his book, and Fallon pulled out her phone to tap into the in-flight wifi and start planning a surprise for him. After they landed and had dinner on the way to the hotel Liam had booked, Fallon got back to work on her date prep, trying to work a schedule around his obligations to his editor. Liam tried to peek every now and then, but she swatted him away, determined to see this done the right way. And by the time he gave up and climbed into bed, she'd figured it all out.

So she bid him a soft goodnight as they drifted off next to each other.

Fallon waited until they were in the elevator up to meet with Liam's editor, and only then did she raise her concerns. "I thought you didn't want me knowing about your book until it was... ready."

"I know. I sent Dana an email. When it comes to recording the audiobook, you won't be invited for that part," he admitted, "but we won't be handing out any spoilers, don't worry."

She shrugged, smoothing down the skirt he'd made fun of her for wearing. It was too dressed up for a meeting when she wasn't even the author, and had no stake in the outcome. She'd waved a hand dismissively; when had Fallon Carrington ever dressed down for a meeting? She wasn't going to start today.

They made it up to the appropriate floor and checked in at the desk, then Liam began pointing out different parts of the office as they sank into chairs to wait in the lobby. But they didn't have to wait long, as his editor appeared from down the hall, he stood to greet her with one of the brightest smiles Fallon had ever seen on his face. She would've been jealous, perhaps, if she weren't so proud and happy for him.

Dana looked over after shaking Liam's hand, offering one to Fallon as well. "So you're Fallon," she said, earning Liam a questioning look from his girlfriend. Dana just laughed. "It's not a bad thing. He told me you were coming."

Liam nodded, but Fallon could see right through him. For some reason, his editor had heard a great deal about her. And that was both confusing and interesting. He caught her penetrating gaze, and she saw his ears turn a bit red before Dana started to lead them to her office. Liam held a hand out to Fallon.

"All good things, I promise," he told her quietly. She didn't seem fully convinced.

As they walked down the hallway, Fallon's phone rang. She didn't even check to see who it was before silencing it. This was too important for Liam, and it was likely that whoever it was, she didn't want to hear from them anyway. Anyone with something important to say would leave a voicemail or call her again later, too, so she just stepped aside, refusing to let him be all gentlemanly when he gestured for her to walk in first.

Liam smiled a little and walked in to take one of the two seats across from his editor. Fallon was sitting down when she felt her phone vibrating because of another call. Her brow furrowed slightly as she started to wonder who could be bothered enough to try again so quickly. But when Liam looked her way, she just smiled encouragingly.

The meeting, it turned out, was scheduled in part to talk about his other meetings, but also to schedule his press tour, as doing so in person for someone whose life was as complicated as Liam, seemed easier than emailing back and forth. As interested as Fallon was in knowing where they were sending him and why, and especially for how long, she kept getting distracted by her phone.

By the fifth call, she couldn't stand it anymore.

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly, standing up. "There's a call I really need to take." Fallon drew out her phone to show them briefly before hitting the answer button and stepping out without so much as checking who it was.

"What?" Fallon asked out in the hall, somewhere between scared and annoyed.

"Adam's been released."

It was Culhane. So Fallon felt like she'd been blindsided twice-over. "Excuse me?"

"Blake bailed him out. And Adam's pissed. Where are you?"

She hesitated. He'd helped her. He shouldn't – couldn't? – be working with that monster anymore. Right? But she still hesitated long enough for him to practically growl her name in impatience. "I'm in New York," she breathed finally, shaking her head at herself.

"And where's Kirby?" He urged.

"Michael, if I tell you and something happens to her because Adam follows you there, or is listening in, or- or who knows what-"

"Fallon. You need to tell me now. He knows she was staying with you, and if he finds out where she is before I do, you know full well I can't stop whatever he's up to."

Fallon shifted her weight, considering, but she already knew he was right. "She's at Jeff's."

"Okay," he said, clearly relieved. "I'll go get her."

"Tell Jeff what's going on," Fallon told him quickly, thinking he'd hang up on her in his rush. If she had to guess, he was already getting into his car to head over there. "He'll fly you two out if you ask him to."

Michael agreed easily. "Does he have a place in New York?"

"I'd count on it."

Indeed, she heard the sound of an engine starting up. "I'll let you know when we land."

Fallon sighed heavily when he hung up. Of course they would only get a day or two of calm before something insane happened. What was the point, she asked herself, in even trying to be normal? Carringtons most certainly did not do normal.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 23, 2019

Liam found Fallon a good half an hour later, but that was after he'd searched the entire floor and wound up back in the lobby downstairs. She was slowly stepping her way down a long entry hall, which was lined with shelves and clear glass, behind which sat all of the books the publisher had ever released. He could tell just from looking over at her that she wasn't really paying any attention to what she was seeing.

He stepped out of the elevator and walked up to her, falling into step at her side. "You didn't come back," he started almost cautiously. He couldn't work out what would've upset her so much. Her father, maybe?

"I'm okay," she said in place of explaining.

"Sweetheart..." Liam's tone was warning enough that Fallon came to a stop, turning to face him.

"Michael called," she started, reaching out to take his hands. "Several times. He had some news and it wasn't good. But he's taking care of it."

Liam frowned, and though he didn't say anything in response, Fallon could feel the way he was pulling back from her internally. Of course he would assume she was hiding something. She was.

"Liam," she started, stepping closer to try and ward off his hurt by proximity as much as with her words. "I don't want to talk about it here. Please. Anybody could overhear it."

"...Adam?"

Fallon nodded grimly, and Liam let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her waist, drawing her in for a hug she realized she wasn't at all prepared for. But she needed it nonetheless.

He murmured into her ear, "is everyone safe?"

She nodded again, this time brushing against his shoulder as she did so. "They're flying in tonight. I called Alexis and Anders, too."

"Good."

He drew back enough to meet her gaze, and Fallon raised a hand to his cheek in appreciation. "Good meeting, too?" She asked, hopeful that she hadn't distracted him too much by disappearing.

Liam smiled, nodding. "Yeah. But we can't do anything about my work, or about things back in Atlanta right now. So all we can do is wait, and we could both do with a distraction. I'm pretty sure you said something about a date?"

"I did," she confirmed, her expression turning cheeky. "I'm not convinced you can handle it, though."

He laughed, turning his chin enough to kiss her palm. "Maybe you should split it up over a couple days, then."

Fallon lifted an eyebrow. "I never said I only had one day's worth of ideas."

His surprise made her grin, so she took his hand again and all but dragged him out into the busy streets of Manhattan.

When they stepped out of the subway stop near Central Park, Fallon suspected that he thought they were just going to eat nearby. But she'd changed out of her heels, which had shocked him. She was serious about going to the museum, and led him straight to those famous steps, unable to hold back her smile as the realization hit him.

"You remembered," he said as they started up the stairs.

"Of course I did. I was thinking maybe you could show me why you like it so much."

His smile told her immediately that this plan of hers would be well worth it.

The Met was, of course, incredibly large. It was possible, Fallon supposed, to go through the whole thing in one day. But it was already midday, and they'd surely head out after a while to go eat. And she had more for them to do after the museum, so they wouldn't be able to see everything. She told him as much, and he had a couple of ideas.

Liam wanted her to take it seriously, so he started with the part he thought she would enjoy the most: the renaissance paintings were absolutely stunning, and based on her family's home, the Carringtons knew a thing or two about art. He led her through the halls, taking a turn at the end of one of them, and leading her into the wing that held a wealth of American history. He pointed out his favorites as they went along, and Fallon had to stop for a moment to remind herself that the Van Kirks were actually from New York. It sounded like the Met had either been his escape, or somewhere he was dropped off when some relative or other didn't 'have the time' to watch out for him that day.

As they walked, it started sounding more and more like the first one was true. Liam loved everything about the place, and Fallon found herself hanging on his every word. Would his book feel like this? He was so proud of it that she figured it absolutely had to, otherwise he wouldn't have put his passion for the subject he'd chosen into his work.

But just as Fallon started heading down a set of stairs to follow the signs to the next area, Liam caught her hand and took her up the staircase instead. She was confused, as nobody else was headed that way.

"It's fine," he assured her, looking back and catching the look on her face. "This is my favorite part of the museum. So few even know it's here – or bother with it, at any rate."

Curiosity heightened even further, Fallon followed close behind him as he led her into a room filled with glass cases – rows and rows of them. They each held something different, from multicolored vases to armor to portraits and little trinkets. "What is this?"

"Open Storage," Liam explained. "It's all the things they don't have on display at the moment, and you can pull up anything in a database in here to learn about it."

But he wasn't stopping, instead walking through the aisle towards the back of the room. Once they were all the way in a back corner, he used the hand holding hers to swing her around and back her up against one of the cases, swooping in to kiss her fervently. When he pulled away, she was breathless but grinning.

"What was that for?"

"You listened, Fallon. Even back then, when I thought you weren't, or thought you wouldn't bother. I'm grateful."

Fallon let out a quiet hum of consideration. "You're pretty hard to ignore, Liam."

He smiled that lopsided, perfect smile of his, and started to lean in again. But Fallon's phone buzzed and they both groaned in complaint. His forehead fell to her shoulder as she pulled her cell from her pocket, reading the text.

"It's Culhane. They're in the air."

"So we can relax, now?" He asked, hopeful.

Fallon nodded. "I think so. So we should enjoy the other things I have planned for us while we're here." She ran her hands down his chest to push him back, though part of her certainly wouldn't have minded staying where they were. But they were going to be caught eventually. "Let's go."

\--------------------------

The rest of their day was spent at dinner, and then a piano bar in southern Manhattan, where she'd managed to reserve two piano-side chairs for the pair of them. Yes, it was partly to try and impress him with her singing, but Fallon was determined to get him to do the same. And while he wasn't trained, it was exceptionally charming when he tried. And for a few hours, they were just normal. They were able to play the tourist role to some extent, and Fallon had to admit – maybe Liam had a point. Maybe they could just move away from Atlanta and be free. Then they wouldn't be a threat to Adam anymore, and both of them could start fresh.

Starting fresh was tough, though. Without connections or leverage, it was harder to operate the way that Fallon was used to. So she didn't voice any thoughts on the matter. Not yet. She needed some kind of plan before that could happen, and she wasn't going to spend their date on something like that.

The rest of their week was supposed to continue like their day had. Liam's meetings in the mornings, spending time together the rest of the day. But it could never be that easy. When they left the bar, pleasantly buzzed and feeling even more tipsy as they stood and walked out into the cooler night air, Fallon realized that she had several notifications from Kirby.

"Do these people have nobody else they can call?" She snapped, shoving her phone back out of sight.

Liam draped his arm around her shoulders, laughing. "Oh, come on, Fal. You love that they rely on you."

She sighed. "I hate when you make valid points," she told him, shooting him a look when he just laughed harder. "I may want to be needed, but I never get a break anymore. This was supposed to be like a holiday for us."

"So let it be," he told her. "Adam isn't here, everybody back home knows to watch out for him – even Blake, technically. If anything else happens, we can extend our stay here. Or go somewhere else." He stopped her, making her turn to face him. "Anywhere you want. My book tour starts in a month, but until then, I am free to go along with whatever comes up. So call Kirby back, and make sure she knows we're okay."

\-------------------

Michael and Kirby were sitting across from Monica and Jeff at the dinner table when Fallon's call came through. Relieved, Kirby quickly answered to try and salvage the horribly uncomfortable meal they'd been having because of the tension that remained between Michael and Jeff. Not to mention the looks Monica had been giving Kirby and Michael as they conversed amicably.

They were staying in a house just outside of the city that the Colbys owned, thinking that would be out of the way enough that it might be safer. Kirby relayed as much, suggesting that, despite everything, she figured Fallon and Liam could come stay with them if they really had to.

"Yeah, that would go well," Fallon replied sarcastically.

Kirby rolled her eyes. "Well if it's that or Adam getting you, I'd say it's pretty obvious that Michael would rather help you. Both of you."

"Sure. But Adam is back in Atlanta," Fallon said, going off of what Liam had told her before, "so it's probably fine."

The redhead's face fell at the reminder, and though Fallon couldn't see it, Kirby's friend would've been surprised. Kirby quickly ended the call, and remained reserved until she finally returned to the dining table and asked where she should be sleeping. Monica pointed her down a hall towards two guest bedrooms, and when Kirby excused herself, Michael did the same.

He waited until they were hopefully out of earshot, standing between their two rooms. "Hey. You alright?"

Kirby sighed, leaning back against her door. "Maybe. Fallon's saying everything's fine, now, but my dad's still in that house."

Michael nodded slowly, looking at the floor before lifting his gaze back to her. "I may be wrong, but from what I know about the guy, Adam hasn't gone for anybody who hasn't done something he sees as a betrayal. Or as somebody getting in his way. So maybe we can just get word to him and suggest that he be more careful."

"Dad does whatever Blake needs him to. It's weird; he raised Blake, sort of, but he raised Steven and Fallon, too. I don't get why Blake's word means more than anybody else's. More than even Blake's father did, before he died."

Culhane didn't have an explanation for that. He just shook his head and shrugged apologetically.

"Adam knows you're helping us now, doesn't he?" She asked, lifting her eyebrows. When Michael frowned, she took it as an affirmative. "Then it sounds like you're the one that needs protecting. Not me and my dad."

"...Probably, yeah."

Kirby cracked a smile, surprising him. "Well. I appreciate that you thought of me, and worked so hard to get all of us out of there. Hopefully I can return the favor someday."

"I'd rather you didn't have to," he replied, his tone a little teasing as an eyebrow lifted. He joined Kirby in a brief laugh that, for both of them, was a mix of relief and that feeling of being so overwhelmed that they just didn't know what else to do.

Michael backed up towards his door as Kirby started reaching for the handle of her own. "Night," she offered, stopping in the doorway to smile over her shoulder at him.

"Goodnight."


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 24, 2019

The next day passed quickly for Liam and Fallon, particularly since she didn't have to sit out on his meetings on Tuesday. And because after they were done talking to Dana, they went to the library that had been refurbished with a beautiful ceiling worth a million dollars or more, just to stare up at it for a little while. Or, well, so Fallon could do that while Liam looked through the shelves at the first edition copies of things.

Fallon started to threaten that she would start pulling out copies and telling him the ending like old times, so Liam decided they'd been there long enough. It was his turn to take them somewhere he thought she'd like.

When they got out of the cab on the west side of Manhattan, she didn't recognize the area. But she should've known he would be as cheesy as he was.

"You can't be serious," she said automatically.

Liam stopped walked, obviously disappointed. "We don't have to-"

"No! No, I just... I shouldn't be so surprised. Of course you know where this is." Fallon smiled, and it was a little apologetic despite the fact that she truly was pleased. "We're here, Liam. It's great, let's go."

He was a little more reserved as they approached the park. It wasn't Central Park, but rather a smaller one, overflowing with flowers amongst its walkways. In spring, New York truly had sights worth seeing, including the path that Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks had walked while filming _You've Got Mail_.

"Why this place?" She asked after a little while, stopping afterward to lean over and smell a patch of roses.

"It's not the same," Liam began. "Of course. But in the smaller ways, the movie reminded me of us. The mix-ups, the fights and misunderstanding. The fact that they both wanted the same thing but it took _one of them_ ," he shot her an amused look, "longer than the other." He shrugged, smile widening. "Plus, it's just a piece of calm in this unbelievably crowded city. I thought you could use it right now."

Fallon turned around, leaning back against the fence to smile fondly at him. "I'm not sure I've ever explicitly said it, but I'm really glad you were walking by that night. And that you stopped, no matter your reasoning."

"Me too."

\--------------------------

That night, Fallon called Alexis to check in on her, Cristal and Anders. It was a relief to know that Steven and Sam weren't in the house anymore, but with the way Alexis came and went, and the fact that new Cristal and Anders couldn't exactly walk out without earning Blake's ire, Fallon couldn't just leave it alone.

Clearly, Liam was right. She couldn't help but revel in the fact that she was needed.

He waved a little to get her attention, gesturing towards the bathroom to let her know he was going to take a shower while she wrapped up her call. Fallon nodded and leaned back against the headboard as she attempted to relax.

"I still don't think he's really Adam," Alexis was saying on the other end of the call.

"I'm pretty sure that doesn't matter, though. Blake thinks that he is. The guy was arrested because he intended to do something to me, and Dad just bailed him out anyway."

Fallon sighed, unsure what sort of reaction she'd expected her mother to have at the news of her daughter being in clear danger. But frustration and an assertion that Alexis was right? That wasn't it.

"Well I don't know what to tell you, Fallon. You know your father always has to be right."

Fallon lifted her eyes to the ceiling. "Good to know you're concerned for my well-being, Mom."

"Oh, darling, I never said I wasn't! But you're the one who's safe, now that you moved out. I'm still stuck with these people."

"Nobody said you had to be, Alexis. If you're that worried about yourself, you should just move."

"And leave Anders and Cristal to fend for themselves? I would never," Alexis simpered, making her daughter scoff.

"Whatever," Fallon muttered. "I've tried to warn all of you, and nobody will listen. You'd think after what happened to Cristal, somebody would actually care."

Alexis became quiet on the other end, which was music to Fallon's ears as much as it was a baffling notion.

"Never thought I'd manage to render you silent," Fallon snapped. "Have fun in that hellhole Dad's made."

And with that, she hung up on Alexis, uninterested in whatever excuses or self-indulgent pouting her mother was bound to bring up. Setting her phone aside, Fallon just sat for a moment, wondering what a normal person would do with their spare time. Watch something? Read for fun?

Her eyes drifted towards the bathroom door. She could sneak in and join him, sure. But she could also try and find a copy of his manuscript and read a little of it before he got out and caught her.

Fallon pushed herself up from the bed with haste, moving over to the briefcase that he always brought with him to his meetings. Inside, she found a notebook, various papers clearly printed off by Dana to give him visual schedules and numbers on things. His phone was still inside there, but underneath the papers she found a flap that was latched to one side of the case. She started to unhook it, ready to peek underneath in hopes of finding what she was after-

His phone lit up, making her gasp loudly in surprise. The bathroom door opened behind her a moment later, and Liam stuck his head out, concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Fallon turned around and caught the way his brow furrowed. "What are you doing?"

Fallon felt herself start to panic, realizing how close she'd come not only to being caught, but to going against something he specifically asked her not to do. She was just curious, that's all. But she snatched up his phone and lifted it to show him. "I heard this buzz and it surprised me," she claimed, walking over to hold it out to him.

Liam looked down at the notification and sighed, opening the door further. He was half-dressed, wearing pajama pants but no shirt. He dropped the towel he'd been using to try and dry his hair a little, took the phone, and led Fallon over to the foot of the bed. Once they both sat down, he looked at her seriously.

"You can't come with me tomorrow," he told her without premise.

Her head tilted slightly, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she waited for an explanation, as she felt sure he had to have one. The hesitation didn't make her feel very good, though.

"I have to record part of the audiobook in the morning, and I don't want to ruin it for you."

Fallon frowned. "So what's with the grim tone? I thought something was wrong." This time, he was the one who didn't answer. "... Liam?"

"My aunt wants to do lunch tomorrow."

"Ah." She nodded slowly, realizing that she would be alone for the majority of the day tomorrow. "Well, I can go check on Kirby tomorrow instead."

Liam reached over, taking her hand. "Fallon, you know I want you to be there, but-"

"But I was involved in what happened to Uncle Max. I know."

She pulled her hand away and started to stand up, but he caught her around the waist, pulling her straight into his lap so he could drop his chin on her shoulder. "You never intended it to happen. It's not like you could've caused it on purpose, anyway. And what he wanted to make you do... it's disgusting, Fallon. I'm not saying he deserved what happened, but I also don't think you deserve to take any blame for it."

"She hated me anyway," Fallon pointed out, her arms draping themselves across her stomach, on top of his. "I'm still not sure why, apart from the fact that I'm a Carrington."

"...I don't know, Fal. But it doesn't matter."

Fallon turned her chin, trying to look at him to gauge his reaction when she made her suggestion: "What if I came with you anyway? Presumably, if this lasts like we want it to, I'll have to deal with her eventually."

He shrugged, though she could sense the reluctance. "If you'll be okay with it, then I don't mind. But I do think you should go check on Kirby tomorrow, too. We should cover all of our bases, you know?"

She hummed her agreement, leaning a little more heavily against him. Liam pressed a kiss to her shoulder, and she was happy to take the distraction that his affection offered. And until an ungodly early hour the next morning, they were content. But then Liam's phone rang.

Fallon rolled away from the noise, complaining, "Next time we travel? No phones."

"Seriously," he agreed, rubbing at his eyes as he reached over to the buzzing cell.

She looked back over her shoulder in surprise, though, when he answered the call. The bedside alarm clock said it was just after six in the morning, so whoever was calling at that hour was either in trouble, or in a different timezone, or... Fallon didn't know. But whatever the case was, he stepped all the way into the bathroom to take it, and when he came out, he didn't seem to be all that stressed out about it. He just seemed annoyed, and tired.

Liam climbed back into bed, brushing her hair back as she leaned against him again. "Go back to sleep, Fal."

But a couple hours later, he was waking her up again – but intentionally this time.

"I'm heading out," he told her, helping her sit up before pressing a kiss to her cheek and grabbing his things to leave. "You can still back out, you know."

"Not happening, Liam."

"As you wish," he shrugged. But he passed her a quick smile before heading to the door.

She watched him go with an odd sense of comfort. If this continued as well as she hoped and believed that it would, the same sort of sight would greet one of them on a nearly-daily basis. And that made her sigh with contentment. Everything else aside, some things in her life were going so well that she almost couldn't believe it.

She got ready for the day and made her way downstairs, calling a cab and tapping away on her phone as she waited to arrive at the Colbys' New York residence. She was working on some ideas in regards to the idea of moving and starting up a new energy empire – specifically when it came to ways to convince CA to sell her back Morell Corp. After what she'd said to Laura, she had really just doomed herself, in theory.

The cab pulled to a stop and Fallon got out after paying and giving the driver a rather nice tip for the speed of the trip. Kirby was the one who opened the door, and pulled Fallon into a tight hug as soon as she saw the brunette.

"Okay, easy," Fallon told her, patting Kirby's back awkwardly. "Let's at least go inside before you start to panic."

"I'm not panicked!" Kirby protested, even as she stepped back to let Fallon in. "I'm relieved to see you, jeez."

Fallon smiled a little at the admission, and turned around to face her friend, reaching out a hand to squeeze the redhead's arm. "How have you all been?"

"Besides worried?" Kirby shrugged. But she glanced down the hallway before lowering her voice. "I think Monica's upset with me about something but I'm not sure."

With a frown on her face, Fallon turned down the hallway to look for the others, unsure what would've earned Monica's disapproval. When they all finished their hugs and greetings, and everyone settled in to catch up, Fallon kept an eye on the dynamics between the others. But she didn't see what Kirby could've been talking about.

She was just checking in with Michael about if he really wanted to leave CA when she noticed what Kirby was up to. "If you're going to take my picture," Fallon drawled at her, "at least warn me first."

"Sorry," Kirby shrugged. "Steven asked for proof of life."

Fallon frowned, taken aback. "He could've just called me."

Michael lifted a hand at that. "Oh, actually that one's on me." He frowned back at Fallon when she turned her disapproval on him. "You had bigger things to worry about, didn't you? I was trying to help. And he was getting too close to asking questions that might get him in trouble with Adam."

"... Fine." Fallon turned back to Kirby, waving her over. "If you're going to send him something, at least make it look decent. Otherwise he might think something's wrong on principle."

Kirby smiled as she stood up and walked over to sit by Fallon, the two of them posing briefly for a selfie that Fallon actually didn't think she would crop Kirby out of later. In fact, she thought it might make a nice post somewhere once the whole mess with Adam had calmed down.

After the picture was sent, Kirby continued to text back and forth with Steven, to the point where Jeff just started staring at her. Until she looked up in confusion. "What?"

"You gonna tell him what we ate for breakfast, too? What are you talking about so much?"

"He asked about Liam," Kirby offered. "So I asked about Sam. We're just talking."

Fallon drew in a deep breath, avoiding Michael's gaze and quickly turning towards Jeff. "Speaking of food – you wouldn't happen to have anything left from that breakfast, would you? I'm meeting his horrible aunt for lunch and I'd rather not be distracted by how hungry I am."

Jeff stood and led her into the kitchen, showing her what they had to offer. It took Fallon a few moments to come around to finally saying something, but when she had a couple pieces of bacon on a plate, she finally looked his way, leaning against the countertop. "I'm sorry you two got wrapped up into this. It could be argued... that I don't deserve it. But Kirby didn't ask for any of this, so... Just, thanks."

He nodded slowly, looking somewhat impressed by her willingness to offer that up. "You've grown up since last year. I'd like to think we both have. In different ways, and for different reasons. But we have a new common enemy. Two, in fact, if what I hear about you and Blake is correct."

Fallon frowned, looking down at her plate. "Someday we'll all be free of him. But I'd rather it happen on my terms." She looked up at him again. "Wouldn't you?"

Michael appeared in the doorway, clearly catching the end of their conversation. "We'll find a way of dealing with him after this passes."

"If it passes," Jeff muttered, shaking his head.

"It will," Fallon announced. A deeply frustrated and ironic laugh escaped her. "I once said that I would never hide out and wait for someone to come get me. I swore that I'd never be that weak. But that's exactly what we're doing."

Culhane shrugged one shoulder, leaning against the door with his other one. "Staying safe is sometimes the right answer."

"Staying safe and doing nothing?" She countered. "No, we're just wasting time, now. I didn't want to- to think about it. But we are."

Jeff leaned forward on the counter, clearly excited by her change in mood. "So what's the game plan, then?"

\----------------

Two hours later, the group of friends-slash-relatives-slash-exes (Fallon was starting to get very confused by the whole thing) had a game plan ready for her to run by Liam. She even suggested that she could talk him into coming back by for dinner, despite the obvious discomfort they expected for him and Michael.

As she brought up Liam, however, and started to gather her things and head out for lunch, Monica pulled her aside.

"What?" Fallon asked, taking her phone out to call a cab.

Monica covered Fallon's phone with her hand. "Wait. I need to show you something." She handed Fallon her own cell instead, open to Monica's Instagram feed.

Fallon was confused at first, but her expression quickly turned dark as she swiped through the various pictures in the post Monica had pointed out. "That bitch," Fallon snapped, her gaze flicking up to Monica.

The collection of pictures all featured Ashley Cunningham in New York City, and the caption claimed that they'd been taken that morning. But the more important thing was the fact that Liam was in every single photo. The last one was the one that drew such a strong reaction out of Fallon, though. In it, Liam winked at the camera while Ashley kissed him on the cheek.

"How did you find this?" Fallon asked, unable to stop herself from flipping through the pictures over and over.

"You think I wasn't going to stalk her accounts after Sun Valley?" Monica lifted an eyebrow, as if to say that Fallon surely knew her better than that.

One heavy sigh later, Fallon took a screenshot of the post and sent it to herself, but just passed Monica back her phone and resumed her call to the cab company. Once she hung up, she realized Monica was still staring at her. "What?"

"You're not going to – call him or something?"

Fallon just scoffed. "Liam isn't stupid enough to do something like this. Not to anybody, but definitely not to me. But he's also too good a guy to ever consider it. You know that."

Monica shrugged. "I mean, after everything that happened-"

"He isn't that good of an actor," Fallon snapped. "Pretending to be married for real is one thing. This is lightyears beyond that kind of lie. This is just cruel, and that is absolutely not his MO."

"So then why would she do this? And why today, when you couldn't go to the meetings with him? How does she know?"

Swinging her bag onto her arm, Fallon just shook her head. "I can't imagine that it's a coincidence. The only other person who knows I'm not with him today, is Steven. And Michael specifically made sure that Steven wasn't aware of what's happening. Tell Kirby not to talk to him anymore. Not about us, anyway."

"You think Adam is trying to sabotage the two of you?" Monica asked, following Fallon to the front door.

"He has to be. But my brother clearly doesn't know me very well if he thinks boy problems are going to stop me from coming after him. And whatever he's giving Ashley to play along, he's naive to think I wouldn't be able to beat it. This just means we have to put a rush on our plans."

Fallon threw the door open and stormed out, getting into the cab.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 25, 2019

It was fifteen past noon, and Fallon hadn't shown up yet. Liam was trying to pass it off, but Mora was having none of it.

"So, let me get this straight," she drawled at him. "You divorced this woman, after she tried to seduce my now-late husband, and now you're dating her again and she can't even be bothered to show up?"

Liam ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "She didn't try anything with Uncle Max. It was a... misunderstanding. And she's probably just stuck in traffic."

Mora rolled her eyes, likely thinking that her nephew was very foolish for, well, a variety of reasons. She shifted her chair back slightly, and stood without explanation. At his distress, she waved a hand. "If she wants to hold up our meal, then she can't be mad when I do the same. I'll be back in a few minutes," she said. Then she walked off towards the bathroom, and Liam could only assume it was to check her makeup.

The timing was a relief, though, as Fallon arrived shortly after, her hand grazing across his shoulders as she sank into the seat next to him. "Sorry I'm late. There was a wreck we had to get around."

He leaned over, kissing her chastely. "It's fine, Fal. Aunt Mora's just gone to the bathroom, I think."

"Good," she replied quickly, pulling out her phone. "Because there's something you need to see before she gets back."

She unlocked the device and handed it to him beneath the table, in case Mora came back and wanted to know what they were up to. She'd only screenshotted the worst of the pictures, the one that had brought about such ire when she'd seen it. And it made his jaw drop, before he rushed into explaining.

"Fallon, these are from weeks ago. Before Sun Valley. I wouldn't-"

"I know," she assured him, dropping her hand to his knee and squeezing gently. "Otherwise I wouldn't have shown you. But I think Adam somehow talked her into posting this today."

"She did call me this morning..."

Fallon sat up straighter at that, gaze hardening. "That's the call you took? Why would you answer it?"

"Who calls at six in the morning when it isn't something bad or important?"

She sighed, deflating a little. "And you're you, so you want to help," she agreed with mild reluctance. "Well, what did she want?"

"I don't think she expected me to answer. That, or she assumed I wouldn't listen, which I didn't really." He shrugged, but Fallon just stared at him. "She wanted to argue why we should get back together," he admitted finally. "But that's obviously not going to happen."

"Maybe she thought it would go to voicemail and I would notice it?" She didn't really have a better guess. But thinking about it, if she had seen notifications like that, and then the post, perhaps she would've started to lose faith. But the idea of that happening seemed impossible to her, knowing what she now knew about Liam and his affection for her. It still wouldn't have made sense.

"I don't know. But this?" He lifted the picture again, making Fallon frown at the sight of it. He locked her phone, handing it back to her. "It's over. It doesn't matter anymore."

Fallon nodded, but reached up to comb back his hair with her fingers where he'd messed it up with his anxiety earlier. "You said that about us, too," she reminded him.

That moment of subtle vulnerability earned her another kiss, this time of reassurance instead of relief. "I didn't mean it. I was trying to convince myself that it was true, and we both knew it wasn't." When Fallon cracked a smile, he did the same, and was leaning in to kiss her one more time when he noticed that Mora was on her way back. "Game on," he murmured, leaning away.

Fallon turned to look over her shoulder, prepared to play up the part of the adoring and charming girlfriend. Surely, if anybody could win Mora over, it would be Fallon. Right? The odds were, she'd already done too much damage. But it never hurt to try. After all, she'd won Liam back. And, evidently, Fallon had done a number of some kind on Laura as well.

The look Mora gave the pair of them was one that Fallon knew well from her times directing it at other people: it was disgust. "I see you decided to show up."

"Yes," Fallon began quickly, leaving no room for Liam to start fretting more than he clearly already was. "It's been a busy week and I'm afraid the cab driver had to take a roundabout route to get here as well, though I did mean to be early rather than late."

"I wanted to spend time with my nephew before he goes back to Atlanta," Mora was saying. "I didn't expect to have another guest at this lunch."

Flashing a fake smile, Fallon just did what Carringtons knew best: she threw money at the issue. "Well, then I'd be happy to cover the bill. I wouldn't have stuck my nose in, only I'd very much like to make up for how we met the first time. If not for my own sake, then for Liam's."

He reached over, taking Fallon's hand atop the table and giving it a grateful squeeze, his thumb sweeping back and forth across the back of it. She turned her chin to meet his gaze and was almost surprised by what she found there. Sure, she knew he loved her. But he had never looked so proud and thankful and adoring at the same time. As soon as she saw that look, it was like the breath left her lungs all at once. And she knew that, more than anything else, she wanted to earn that look as often as she possibly could.

Mora cleared her throat, and they both snapped out of it, trying to play it cool. "Right. Liam did say that there was a... mixup before." At Fallon's confused expression, Mora fell further into the grieving widow act. Fallon just couldn't tell how much of it was real. "I'm told that I was wrong about what I thought Max told me before he died. Though I'd say that my general thoughts about the Carrington name are still true, considering your offer."

Fallon sat up a bit straighter in her chair, chin lifted. "I was trying to be polite. But if it matters at all to you, I am not particularly associated with my father or his business anymore. His values do not match my own the way I once hoped they could."

"Really, Aunt Mora," Liam spoke up for her. "Fallon's done everything she could to try and persuade him to change. But Blake is stubborn. At least for now, we're keeping our distance."

He looked to Fallon in question, and she nodded. She was grateful that he knew how much she needed her independence and control, but also loved that he knew when he needed to stand up for her. Because he wasn't doing it to step on toes. He was just backing her up, and she knew that he recognized the difference.

The waiter showed up to save them, and though conversation didn't flow easily during their meal, by the time they parted ways after Fallon covered the check, it almost seemed like they had made up some of the rocky ground from before. Once Mora left, Fallon caught Liam's hand and stopped him from flagging down a cab.

"So," she began, drawing out the word, "I may have promised Kirby and Michael and the Colbys that we'd do dinner with them tonight."

Liam frowned deeply at that, and Fallon really wasn't surprised. "...Okay?"

"We have a plan about what we should do to take down Adam. I want us all to go over it so we're on the same page."

He calmed at that news. "All right. But I need to call Ashley first. Maybe we can get her to tell us what he's up to."

Fallon pursed her lips, but nodded anyway. He was right. Much to her distaste, they needed Ashley's help as much as they'd needed Michael's. And if Liam could get over something much more serious, she could handle her jealousy over the woman who had so obviously been a fling.

"Can we just... walk to wherever you want to call her from?" She asked hopefully. "Take one of those quiet moments?"

"Sure," he agreed, offering his elbow a little dramatically. She smiled and curled her hand around his arm, and they made their way to the edge of Central Park, where Liam wandered a bit to find a private enough place. Once he'd found a bench, he turned to Fallon. "I'm not sure how to do this."

"I don't know her," Fallon pointed out with a slight shrug. "Just like I knew how to get to Culhane, you're the one who can do this. Do you want me to give you some space?"

"Don't go too far," he replied by way of agreeing. "If it comes down to it, you may need to do a bit of acting to convince her we're in trouble."

"Maybe you're the one who needs to do the acting," she suggested. "FaceTime her or something. She won't care if I'm in trouble. She'll care if you are. And technically, that's probably not a lie, since you're helping me."

She started walking away before he could come up with another excuse to hold off on placing the call. But Fallon had a point about FaceTime. He just wished he were better at performing the way Fallon was. Anybody walking by would be able to see and hear him, but he figured it was better to use headphones in case she got upset with him. After plugging those in, he reluctantly hit the call button, hoping that she wouldn't answer.

It took several rings before the call connected, and Liam was already sighing with anxiety. Ashley, once the image appeared, was sprawled out across her couch in what he assumed was designed to be an attractive fashion. It merely made him frown, though. And it made him realize that Fallon walking away was probably for the best.

"Hey, babe," she greeted cheekily.

"We need to talk," he replied, tone stern and no-nonsense. Her face fell into a pout but he ignored it, refusing to let her soften him after she'd tried to mess things up with Fallon. Yeah, those two had a history of their own, but they'd gone back and forth enough already. Couldn't they just call it even?

Ashley shrugged one shoulder. "About what?"

"Why'd you post those pictures of us this morning?"

"I miss you," she simpered with a little smile.

Liam shook his head at her. "No, you claimed that they were taken today. Who told you to post them?"

She finally frowned at that, but he couldn't tell if she was embarrassed or annoyed. "Some guy told me that he wanted to annoy that bitch of yours-"

"Don't you dare," he snapped, holding up a reprimanding finger. "You both went after each other, and you know it."

"So? She's the one that came barreling in to ruin our vacation. I was just repaying the favor."

"Ashley," Liam sighed. "I'm being serious right now. There's a man who's trying to hurt the both of us, and I'm pretty sure he's the one that contacted you."

"Hurt?" She scoffed. "Like you hurt me by leading me on?"

"No. Like someone literally threatened Fallon's life, and I think you're working with him."

They stared each other down through their phones, though Liam kept his attention half on his peripherals, just in case someone noticed the tone of the conversation. Or, more importantly, if someone had overheard that part. He spotted Fallon a little ways off, either pretending to take pictures of the park or actually doing so. Regardless, she wasn't looking at him, so he felt a little less bad about outright showing his fear on his face.

"...Are you serious?" Ashley asked finally.

"Completely."

She sat up, apparently done playing her games. "You don't think he'll actually do something like that, do you? He seemed so... normal."

Liam considered the question but finally nodded. "I really think he would. Fallon said that he lost his medical license, and he's been working with a really dangerous woman who just got arrested. He was arrested as well, and bailed out by her father because Blake refuses to listen to the truth." Deciding that he needed to make it more personal in order to drive the point home, he added, "Ashley, I don't want you mixed up with this guy. If anything happens, I don't doubt he'll be able to find you in person."

Ashley reached up to tug at the ends of her air, clearly distressed.

"I'm sorry," he told her genuinely. "I didn't think he'd find out about you. But if he reaches out again, please do not answer. But if he says anything important-"

"I'll pass it your way," she finished for him, nodding rapidly. "I'm sorry, too. If I'd known..."

Liam quirked his mouth in a half-frown. "It's okay, technically. She didn't believe it. But how did he know to do it today?"

"Somebody named Steven told him."

Liam's gaze jumped back to Fallon, who was definitely watching him now. "Oh," he replied. "Well, thanks for telling me. And, um... Fallon said she was sorry, by the way. In case that matters."

Ashley turned a bit red, but just nodded. "Yeah... Me, too."

"I'll let you know if anything comes up in regards to you, but hopefully it won't," he said, trying to wrap up the call. She promised the same in return and was the first to hang up.

Almost as soon as he'd taken the headphones out of his cell, Fallon was standing behind him, her hands sliding from his shoulders to his chest, crossing over so she could hug him from behind. "You okay?" She asked, truly sounding more concerned about him than about whatever Ashley had to say.

His hands came up to curl around her arms. "Yeah. She said Adam heard what was happening today from Steven?"

"Kirby was texting him this morning. Adam probably had her call earlier, too, thinking I'd get upset by it," Fallon added, reinforcing her earlier theory. "But she knows about the trouble now?"

"Yeah. She apologized."

Fallon nodded, her cheek brushing against his. "Good. The fewer people we have to worry about, the better. But let's just hope we can get this plan laid out properly tonight so we can go home and get rid of him."

Liam turned sideways on the bench, looking up at her. "Fallon, please tell me you're not going to take some big risk to get this guy." He lifted an eyebrow at the pretend surprise on her face. "I know you," he reminded her. "You always want to handle things yourself."

"That's how I make sure something is done the right way."

"Maybe. But it also puts you straight in the line of fire. I'm not letting you do this alone."

"Letting me?" Fallon pulled back a little, affronted.

"You know what I meant."

She stood up straight, releasing him completely. "We should go. You can't judge the plan until you've actually heard it, anyway."

Liam pushed himself up off of the bench, not replying - just holding a hand out to her as a peace offering that he hoped would help to calm her temper. He knew full well that she'd understood him the first time. But with tensions as high as they were, he had no doubt that she'd taken it the wrong way on purpose to try and steer away from those fears.

After a moment, she dropped her hand into his and stepped around the bench, practically dragging him out of the park so they could leave.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted April 27, 2019

When Culhane answered the door, he could instantly sense the tension between Liam and Fallon. Rather than stick his nose into that mess, he stepped back and let them in. Fallon walked in first without hesitation, going to look for Monica to explain the whole Instagram debacle from earlier.

That left Liam to awkwardly step past Michael and look around at the Colbys' place. It was impressive, as Liam had expected, and for a moment it made him wonder whether places like this made Culhane feel uncomfortable. Surely Michael made excellent money working for a family like the Carringtons, but even Liam didn't bother spending much of the money he clearly had on buying fancy houses in however many cities. He'd gotten his trust after going completely broke while backpacking, like he'd told Sam, and since then had been more careful with what he had to his name.

The foyer led to an open floor-plan living room, and from there Liam could see where the others were. Jeff was reading in a chair off to the side, and Fallon was just closing the back door behind her to join Monica and Kirby on the back porch. Liam assumed that she would've left the door open if she'd wanted him to join her, so he took it as a hint that she needed time with her friends and tried not to think much of it.

"So... What's the dinner plan?" Liam asked, trying to skip over the awkward silence.

"Not sure," Culhane shrugged. "Jeff?"

Jeff looked up, prepared to answer, but Liam cut in anyway. "I don't mind cooking if nobody else wants to. Since it's your place and I'm just, y'know, a guest and all." He held his hands up in a gesture that suggested he wouldn't be bothered either way.

"Uh," Jeff closed the book around his thumb to hold the page he was on. "I mean, whatever works. I'll show you where everything is, then?"

They made their way into the kitchen, and Michael followed for lack of something else to do – and also in an attempt to suggest that he wasn't going to make things more awkward than they already were. Jeff shot a cautious look at Culhane before he turned to Liam, openly curious.

"So Monica said you might be in trouble," he said, even as he started opening cabinets to gesture to things Liam might need.

Cracking an awkward smile, Liam rubbed at the back of his neck. "Uh, not exactly. Adam tried to mess with Fallon. Went through Steven and my ex to do it. And, apparently, through Kirby. Not that she probably knew until Fallon went out there."

They all glanced towards the back porch, where Fallon had poured herself a glass of iced tea from Monica and Kirby's pitcher. From the expressions on the girls' faces, it was clear that she was filling them in, too.

"Someone needs to walk me through this plan," he continued, getting back to business and looking through the pantry for ideas. "I told Fallon she shouldn't put herself in danger and she got pretty defensive, so whatever's been thought out so far, it doesn't sound ideal."

Michael rolled his eyes behind Liam's back. "If you think Fallon's easily swayed against her own ideas, you don't know her very well."

His jaw clenched slightly, but Liam turned around with a container of bread crumbs in hand. "Actually, she listens to reason as far I can see. But in my experience, she doesn't enjoy men taking control merely for the fact that we're men. She doesn't need protection, and that's not what I'm saying. But if there's a way to ensure that everyone is safe, that's a different matter entirely."

The back door closed suddenly, and all three men turned to see a bemused, if slightly irked, Fallon standing in the door with her arms crossed and head tilted to the side. "Really?" She asked sharply, her gaze flicking between Michael and Liam. "Is it going to be like this all night?"

"Fal..." Liam shook his head apologetically.

She rolled her eyes, stepping forward to sit herself on on the kitchen's island stool. "It better not be," she warned seriously. "If you two are going to have a territorial contest or something, just know that it doesn't matter to me either way what you two try. It's not going to affect the choices I make. And just so you know, I thought more highly of both of you before I heard that."

"It's not a contest," Michael argued, only to be interrupted by Liam.

"Fallon, honestly. You know that's not what we were talking about."

She lifted an eyebrow, guilting him into turning away to resume his meal prep. "Make whatever claims you want, but know that absolutely nobody will decide what I do besides me."

"We know that, Carrington," Jeff snapped finally, ready to be past any talk of Fallon's disastrously complicated love life. "Just leave it."

Fallon lifted her chin rather imperiously, but to show that she was past being petty, she walked over to the other side of the counter, peering over Liam's shoulder at what he was making. He turned slightly to give her a better view, and to face her somewhat when he spoke up again.

"You have to know that's not how I meant it," he murmured, grateful for the entrance of Monica and Kirby, which overwhelmed the rest of the kitchen with noise. "I don't agree with what I think you've got planned, but it's like I said. You don't have to do whatever you're planning on your own."

"... I know," she agreed after a moment, her posture relaxing. "But if you'd waited for me to explain, rather than assuming, you'd know that I had always planned to keep all of us safe. Including me." Fallon reached up to his back, gently scratching in circles that she thought would be calming. "What're you making?" She added, hoping to change the topic for the time being.

Liam cracked a small smile at that, taking her intention and running with it. So he gestured to the various supplies he had spread in front of him. "I was thinking a chicken parmesan, if people like that." He heard Fallon hum at the thought as she nodded, and an idea occurred to him. "If you want to avoid talking about things with them, you could always help me, Fal."

She laughed at his tone as much as she did at the suggestion. "If you think I know how to do any of this-"

"I'm more than happy to teach you."

Fallon just scratched at his back again, murmuring a quiet, "I know. Thank you." She leaned forward a little, looking at everything in front of him, before glancing towards the rest of their dinner party.

"It doesn't matter what they think," he told her without looking up to actually see what she was doing. "But it's fine if you'd rather not."

She huffed, shaking her hair out of her face as if he'd just challenged her. "Fine, I'll help."

Liam looked over at her in both shock and the joy of having talked her into it. "You'll be a chef yet," he assured her, stepping around to trade places with her so she was the one standing in front of the pot he'd set atop the stove.

His hand came up to rest at the small of her back, assuming the process would actually stress her out. But he kept his own tone completely calm, if not simply happy to be able to teach her something he loved to do. It wasn't until she completely ignored his instruction to cut up the garlic he'd already crushed that he realized she wasn't actually listening. She looked like she was trying to, but he also noticed everybody else staring at them in shock.

Liam shot them a disapproving look that evidently was stern enough to make them look away and wander towards the living room to put on a show that Kirby recommended. As soon as they were gone, Fallon seemed to snap back into gear, doing exactly as he'd instructed her to.

"How about this?" Liam started, refusing to let her pull back from him after everything. "I'll help you with this, and you tell me the plan at the same time," he suggested, thinking it would keep her mind busy so she wouldn't think about what everyone else was thinking, or about what she assumed about his and Michael's conversation.

Fallon nodded, liking that plan. "Okay, well then... First of all, we realized that the only way to convince Blake of anything is to make him think that Adam is after him, not anybody else."

"That makes sense," he agreed, pointing towards the jar of diced tomatoes. "Here," he handed her the can opener, situating her hands and covering them with his own to guide her. "Once this is open, put this in the pot with the garlic. Then you'll actually be touching the chicken, so we'll go ahead and wash hands real quick."

"Okay." She furrowed her brow slightly, letting him lead. "So we were thinking, Adam's always one step ahead of us and we never know how. So maybe, rather than catching him, we need to play his game, too."

"How?"

Fallon turned after pouring the tomatoes as he'd asked, moving over to the sink behind them. "Jeff, and Michael's sister, are both really good at things like hacking and coding. So if they can put together a trail of files that we can hide somewhere deep in a folder on Adam's computer, he might not even know they're there. And then we can send an email to someone at Atlantix making some bid to get rid of Blake, linking those files so it looks like he put them together himself."

She turned off the faucet and picked up a towel, drying her hands.

Liam knew that her plan was a good one, but there was one key detail that he was sure she hadn't provided yet. "How do we get those things on his computer, or that email sent? Surely he'd protect the computer or at least keep it near him."

Fallon pressed her lips together, looking away. He immediately knew that this was the part he wasn't going to like. Liam's face must've made that clear, because Fallon quickly stepped forward, her hands sliding down his forearms to link their fingers together. "I was going to go in and do it myself," she told him.

"So I was right."

"Not exactly. See, I need someone to come with me to distract him. That way, whoever was supposed to do that... they'd know if Adam was coming my way. If I needed help. And I was thinking we could ask Anders. If he knows what's happening, he'll definitely-"

"No way," Liam cut in, shaking his head firmly. "Anders might help, too, but I'm going with you. I'll distract him."

She looked conflicted, clearly not wanting to upset him but not agreeing fully with his idea. "You don't know him, Liam. And that means he knows more about you than you could ever learn about him before we get back home. If he reads you well enough, he'll know instantly what's happening."

Liam started pulling away, wanting space to think, but she held on tighter. "... I've nearly lost you before, Fallon. Not permanently, in the sense that Adam seems to intend. But I do have some experience there, and maybe... I can make it seem like you've gone missing. Convince him that nobody knows where you are, and tell the others to play along. We're at least halfway-decent actors, and if I got in that room with him, I know I could seem desperate. We already are, anyway."

"You do that," she mused slowly, understanding, "while I sneak upstairs."

"So we get the house - even Blake - focused on finding you, when really you're under their noses the entire time. And if Adam doesn't buy it, we'll have Anders or Sam or somebody be there, too, to let you know in time for you to sneak out of his room and into yours. If nothing else, I'll be right behind him. I promise."

"Liam, if he hurts you-"

He shushed her, pulling one hand away so he could cradle her cheek. "It'll be fine, sweetheart. It's you we're all worried about. And once Blake turns his back on Adam, we'll have a real chance of being free. You and your friends – the plan you made... it'll work. I believe that. I have to."

She sighed heavily, leaning into his palm. "Yeah..." Her gaze drifted to the package of chicken he'd taken out for their meal. "I don't want to think about it right now," she requested, pointing at the stove.

He kissed her cheek briefly before walking her through the rest of the meal, letting her do most of the work unless she started to panic – like when she became convinced that she'd burned the chicken and he had to hide his laughter while helping her turn it over before she really did burn it. She seemed to appreciate the spaghetti part the most, as it took the least amount of work and attention, which didn't really surprise him. But she was thoroughly charming throughout, and he got the feeling that he'd try and turn this into a regular thing.

That is, if they had the chance to just spend a night doing nothing but spending time together. It was hard to imagine a casual stay-at-home evening, but he really hoped that they would get a chance without it ending up totally spoiled.

Liam let Fallon call the others to dinner, biting back his smile at how utterly proud she looked when their eyebrows lifted as they registered how impressive it was for her first ever full dinner, technically made just by Fallon herself. He wasn't about to take that credit from her. And, somehow, for a little while, they just enjoyed a dinner that didn't involve arguing or plotting or even fretting, really. Liam found himself smiling, despite Adam and Michael and Ada, and everything else that had and currently was standing in his and Fallon's way.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted May 1, 2019

Fallon was feeling much better by the time they left the Colbys' house that night, but as she and Liam were heading out the door, she caught the frustrated expression on Michael's face. It made her frown, and once he realized he'd been caught, he shook his head and closed the front door.

"What's his deal?" She muttered as she turned back around to climb into the cab. "I thought we'd gotten past the standoff."

Liam didn't say anything until he slid in next to her and closed the door, at which point he just gave the driver their destination's address. Only then did he look to Fallon and shake his head at her. Something about the look he gave her made her sad. It was a strange sort of disappointment that lingered behind his eyes. Disappointment in her. And it actually scared her.

"What?" Fallon urged, nudging him with the back of her hand.

"You really don't get it? Come on, Fallon." Liam sighed heavily, apparently not influenced by the slight pout she put on in response. "You never told him you're not pregnant. He might not have figured it out by now, and there's no way he could prove it either way. I can't blame him, y'know? It doesn't matter if you two don't get along, now. He still believes that you're seeing someone – possibly intimately, and specifically someone he fought with to try and win you over – while you're supposedly carrying his child."

Fallon's gaze shifted to the driver, who mercifully seemed to be ignoring them in favor of bobbing their head to the radio. But then it returned to Liam, guilty, as her cheeks burned. "Right," she admitted reluctantly. Her hands even began twisting anxiously in her lap. "I mean, you all should know by now that I don't always expect people to react the way that they do, so-"

"I'm not blaming you, Fal. But how long are you going to keep this up? Does Monica know? Or Jeff?"

She shook her head, brow furrowing as she tried but, bizarrely, failed to meet his eye. "No, you're right, I just- I don't want him to get mad and decide he doesn't want to help us. You heard our fight at CA. It didn't matter, then, that he thought I was. He still went after me."

Liam reached over, taking her hand between both of his, and setting them atop his knee. "Fallon," he pressed. She finally lifted her gaze back to his, as she always did when he addressed her with that earnest tone. "I'm not rushing you. I'm not saying you're wrong about him. But the longer you hold this off, the more people are going to ask questions, the more upset he's going to be."

"I know," she agreed. "I know."

She looked away, just staring out the window, and it didn't seem to help when Liam gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Her pride and excitement from the meal she'd made and shared was evidently gone, and Liam found himself running a frustrated hand through his hair. That was becoming a familiar motion, and though he hated the way he'd made her feel, he knew he had to say something eventually. Now was as bad or as good as later, he supposed.

When they arrived at the hotel, Fallon started to pull her hand from his, but Liam held on tight, drawing her close against him as they walked inside. He let them into the room, unsurprised when Fallon made excuses to get ready for bed. She seemed to need space – to think or process, Liam didn't know – so he let her go do that, but was up in bed, attempting to read, when she emerged from the bathroom freshly showered.

He put the book down as she sat on the edge of the bed and started brushing her hair. Liam pushed himself over to sit behind her, reaching out and wrapping his arms around his waist. She turned her chin slightly, but didn't push him away. In fact, she actually just finished untangling her hair and set the brush down on the bedside table, then waited to see what he wanted.

Liam gave a soft tug, leaning back against the headboard and bringing her with him so she was laying against his chest, regardless of her mood and wet hair. "Talk to me," he requested softly, rubbing her arm.

It took her a moment, but she finally murmured, "... I love you, Liam."

He frowned at that, but in confusion more than anything else. "Then why are you hiding from me?"

Fallon sighed, draping an arm across his chest to snuggle closer. He was right and she knew it, but voicing her reasoning seemed difficult despite the fact that she and Liam were alone. "I just... I've seen a lot of really negative emotions on your face before, even directed at me. But I don't think I've seen such pure disappointment in your eyes before."

"I was disappointed that you didn't understand, Fallon. Not disappointed in your decisions." He curled a finger under her chin to encourage her to tilt her head back and look at him. "Eventually, word is going to spread beyond your family and Culhane. It is. And you're going to have to deal with whatever the fallout is, y'know? I just want you to be prepared."

"Worse things have been said about me," Fallon sighed, "than a rumor about an accidental pregnancy. More than that, we were supposed to be married by the time I found out. So it's easy to talk my way out of it. One in four pregnancies end in miscarriage anyway, though I do feel bad that I'd be using the thing that happened to Cristal, and that it would be a lie."

He nodded, then dropped his cheek to the top of her head. "I mean, you knew, when you made the decision to let him believe it, that you'd have to fix it later. It's an ends versus the means sort of situation, and you know that. It makes me nervous... that you're not planning ahead about this like you usually do."

"I know, but... I just want to deal with Adam and get a break from all of this stress and drama. Why can't we ever just get a break?"

She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration as Liam lifted his hand to start brushing it over her hair soothingly. "We will, Fal. I promise. You can come with me on the book tour if you want. Or we'll just travel somewhere that none of the others can follow, and it'll be fine."

"I don't want _fine_ , Liam."

"Fallon..." He just dropped a kiss on the top of her head, feeling like there was no way to win while she was so upset. "I love you, and if I could fix all of this right now, I would-"

"I know."

"No, I don't think you do," he said more firmly. "All I want from you is for you to be happy. And yes, I'd rather that happiness include me, but I don't know how to help you get out of your own head on this one."

"Just stay," she requested quietly. "Nobody else has except you. ...It feels like I just keep adding to this list of reasons why sticking around would be hard or – or painful for you, and... I hate to admit it, but that's pretty scary."

"Hey." Liam lifted her chin again, kissing her deeply. When he pulled back, he didn't go very far, his hand cradling her cheek. "I'm in this, Fal. I always have been."

She gazed up at him, adoration shining in her eyes, as the thought occurred to her: He wasn't her husband anymore, but he still sort of felt like one. Maybe if she kept her chin up and dug them out of this hole, he someday really would be once more. "Sorry. I'm going to fix this, Liam. I promise."

"I know you will," he agreed, "but you're not alone anymore. You don't have to do this on your own."

Fallon reached up, overcome with appreciation for him, and carded her fingers through his hair to tug him into a thorough kiss. She murmured her love for him, which encouraged him to wrap his arms around her more tightly. With a gentle bite on his lower lip, she pulled away, drawing a noise of complaint from his throat. But she only did so in order to lift herself up and hover above him, and then quickly leaned down to kiss him again as she started to unbutton his shirt.

Afterwards, Liam waited until Fallon fell asleep to shower and quickly send off an email to his editor about an idea he'd had about the book tour, wanting Dana's opinion before he mentioned it to the woman who finally looked peaceful as she curled herself around Liam's pillow in his absence. And shortly after midnight, he climbed back into bed with hopes of a calm night at the least.

\-------------------

Much to Liam's liking, it turned out that Dana thought his pitch was a great idea. But he had made it clear: Fallon didn't need to know the whole truth about his book until things had calmed down with her family. He wanted her to have a few moments of calm before the magnitude of the situation really hit her. So he was a little nervous as they walked into Dana's office the next morning, worried that something would slip and Fallon would figure it out.

But as Fallon sat down, her chin lifted with that usual edge she was known for, Liam felt a bit of his normal confidence and comfort with both of the women come back to him.

Dana leaned forward across the desk, clasping her hands and smiling at the pair of them. After the typical pleasantries were exchanged, she got straight to business. "So, Liam had an idea that I think would be quite charming," she told Fallon. "If you're available to join him on some of the stops-"

"I could be there for all of them," Fallon cut in, shrugging like she wouldn't care if she was told that she shouldn't be. "I'd cover my own travel and the like, of course."

"Well, even better, then. Because Liam thought up a way to get you involved in his events, and I think it's going to go over really well." Dana smiled at the two of them as Fallon turned a curious, bemused look on Liam. "See, oftentimes authors will do readings from their books, and take questions. But they also typically have some sort of moderator to lead discussions. Usually we'd have to source them from local authors or booksellers, but for debut authors, that can be hard. So it would be deeply convenient to have someone like you running those events."

Fallon sat up even straighter, clearly proud and thrilled by the suggestion. Even more so since Liam had put it forth to his editor, himself. "That sounds amazing," she agreed. "As long as you're sure it will go over well. I don't want to steal Liam's spotlight. I mean, he won't tell me anything," she shot him a look, "but I have no doubt it's incredible."

Dana smiled knowingly, which only raised Fallon's hackles even more. "Oh, I seriously doubt you would do that, considering-"

Liam cleared his throat and Dana caught herself, turning a little red. Trying to cover it up, he turned to look at the brunette. "I think it'll be really great, Fal."

So, no matter Fallon's frustration, it seemed that they were in agreement. Although she didn't have the experience as this sort of moderator, she had no doubt that she could pull it off – provided, of course, he ever let her read the book. How else could she lead the discussion about it? At least she knew Liam enough to offer some discussion about him and his experience. Even better, she decided, was that none of the women who came to his signings could get any ideas about him.

She trusted Liam, obviously. Other women? Not a chance. If Liam was as talented as Dana clearly thought he was, and as Fallon expected he would be, then no doubt there would be some readers who ended up with a bit of a crush on him. And that just wouldn't do.

After Fallon was filled in on the schedule and had it all entered into her calendar, they were on their way out. She started to suggest a diner in Brooklyn that she thought was well worth the longer ride, but Liam didn't let her get very far in her pitch.

"Oh, I've got a few things planned for you," he told her, curling his arm around her waist to guide her down the busy streets. "You had your turn, now it's mine. I had to make a couple of guesses, so I wouldn't spoil things, but hopefully these will be firsts for the both of us."

Fallon smirked, tilting her head a little. "Firsts with you? Sounds perfect."

Liam took her to a small Italian bistro a few blocks away from Rockefeller Center, where a table was waiting for them by the window. It was quaint and charming, and the food was absolutely delicious. And they lingered there for a little while, working up a pleasant but light afternoon buzz. Fallon suspected that he was stalling for something, but before long he was covering the check and leading her out to call a cab.

Their driver took them to a pier, which admittedly had Fallon a little worried given they were dressed up, essentially, because of the meeting with Dana. But he directed her to a large ferry, which was teeming with people boarding, taking pictures, and generally acting like hardcore tourists. So Fallon turned a deeply questioning gaze on Liam, earning a pleased chuckle.

"Calm down," he teased. "We're getting on this ferry, and we're going to just have a calm evening."

"But where is the ferry going, Liam?"

He led her over to the boarding line, turning in their tickets before answering. He was a little surprised to find that she just followed him without further pushing, but he wasn't sure if it was her curiosity or her trust in him. He could hardly wait, actually, to see what she thought.

"See, I know you've been to New York before," he told her, "but I'd wager you have never gone to see the Statue of Liberty."

"You would be right," Fallon agreed. "Though I didn't expect to do it this way."

Liam laughed again, leading her up to the top level of the ferry, which was open to provide better views. "What, the normal way?" He grinned at her when she swatted his arm.

Nevertheless, he gestured towards one side, a little surprised when she went straight for the seat by the edge of the boat, just sitting down and holding her hand out for him to take when he sat next to her. So their evening was spent listening to the tour, watching Manhattan transition from daylight to the night's shimmering lights from buildings and traffic alike. As Fallon gazed out at the beauty of the city, he was watching her.

She caught him, of course, but instead of making a snarky comment about it like he sort of expected her to, she just leaned over to thank him and kiss him on the cheek. Perhaps it was their conversation from the night before that had her behaving so much more calmly and softly than usual, but he even managed to talk her into taking a photo when they approached the statue enough to use it as a backdrop. He took a couple, though, without thinking about it, and managed to catch a version of Fallon that was just pleasantly content and smiling at him, rather than the woman who usually posed for the purposes of looking picture perfect on camera.

He made sure to save that one, if only for himself. And he capped off the night by taking her up to the bow of the ship, where he dipped her down for a deep kiss beneath the lights of his hometown as the ferry returned to the pier.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted May 2, 2019

Fallon pulled her suitcase down the walkway leading up to the plane, hyperaware of Liam's presence behind her. She liked to pretend that she was fine with heading back to Atlanta, but based on Adam's desire to break her at the least, and possibly 'get rid of her' (she couldn't seem to use the word _kill_ ) at the worst, she highly doubted that she was pulling this one off. She had expected to sit in business class as they had on the way to New York, but Liam had made a point to upgrade to first class.

So they were seated among the earliest of the bunch, and Liam didn't seem as shocked as Fallon expected him to when she immediately went hard on the alcohol that came along with their tickets. He didn't chide her or say anything about it at all. Instead, he just settled into his seat beside her, and reached over to drop his hand on her thigh. That seemed to calm her, as her anxious fidgeting stopped, so he began brushing his thumb back and forth as take-off approached.

Flights usually made him tired, but the flight to Atlanta wasn't that long, and even the flight attendants were looking at Fallon strangely after a while, when she just kept drinking.

Eventually, he stood up under the guise of going to the bathroom, but when he was sure Fallon wasn't looking, he asked the first class attendant to refrain from asking her if she wanted anything else, claiming that she'd just lost a family member and was taking it badly. They left the pair alone for the rest of the flight, and Fallon didn't seem to notice, thankfully.

When the flight finally ended, she was clearly still tipsy, so Liam took charge of their bags and took her hand as they made their way out and through the airport. She hung on him as they walked, her steps slowing the closer they got to the exit. Finally, he couldn't stand her silent fretting. He set their bags down without premise, and drew her into his chest, just wrapping her in his arms.

"I'm fine," she claimed, her words not having a particularly strong impact due to the slowed speech that came from the liquor she'd downed.

"You're not."

She shook her head. "We're not even to part where I have to go home," she mused. "I'll be fine, by then."

Liam rubbed her arms as he pulled back, sighing. "Hey, y'know what? We've got time. Until Jeff is ready with those documents we need, it's still vacation time for us. Okay? Adam doesn't need to know we're even back. Until everything's ready, we can keep busy."

Her brow furrowed slightly, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the drinks or because he wasn't being straightforward enough. "With what?"

"Your business plans. Ideas for the book tour. We'll keep an ear out about things Adam's doing at home – talk to Anders and Sam and even your mother. We'll do what we would any other day, but while staying ready. Okay?"

Fallon shrugged slightly, but she nodded. "Let's just go to your apartment."

Liam didn't love that they were heading somewhere that Fallon didn't feel entirely comfortable, but the manor wasn't exactly home for her anymore, in some ways. And he certainly wasn't going to take her there. Not a chance.

On the drive home, Fallon just frowned out the window at the buildings that lined the streets of Atlanta. When they drove past the police station, Liam's words came back to her and she gasped.

"What?" He asked, reaching over to her shoulder.

"We need to go see Bobbi," she told him.

Liam's eyebrows pulled together but he just shrugged and said, "Okay. We can do that. But maybe once you're more..." He glanced at the driver, but Fallon just rolled her eyes.

"Sober?"

"Yeah."

She apparently was willing to concede that point to him, but Liam was excited to see the wheels turning in her head again, and Fallon looked almost happy, too.

\------------------------

The next day, the police chief knocked on Liam's door, and when Fallon answered it, both women looked a little nervous. Fallon's nerves were fake, to some extent, but the fact that Bobbi looked anxious only increased Fallon's discomfort.

"Come on in," Fallon offered, stepping backwards. She had to stop short, though, because Liam had come up behind her, his hands catching her at the hips to slow her. Fallon suspected that he was hovering as a means of playing up their downtrodden mood. She squeezed his arm before turning her attention back to Bobbi. "Thanks for coming."

Bobbi looked between the two of them and then around the apartment, presumably seeing Fallon's touch here and there in the placement of objects that certainly represented the Carrington businesswoman vibe that Fallon carried. They led her over to the couch, Fallon sitting next to Bobbi, and Liam taking the chair next to his girlfriend in case she wanted to reach over for him.

"So," Bobbi began, "I was actually going to reach out to you, Fallon, but it seems you did that for me."

"Oh?"

Bobbi nodded. "We had a few questions about what happened between Michael and _Ada_." She emphasized the name to suggest that she couldn't give the woman's real name. When Fallon waited expectantly, the police chief went on. "We have a record of various calls, but almost nothing in writing. We have Michael's claims, and of course Ada's claims. But we have nothing to corroborate either of them."

Fallon's eyebrows lifted slightly. It was like Bobbi knew why she'd asked to speak with the older woman. "Well, I'm not sure what you mean, specifically, but it does make me feel better to know that Michael wasn't involved with Ada's schemes with my... brother."

"Right... We didn't hear anything about Culhane's involvement during the audio tapes. Though the bug did raise some questions," Bobbi admitted.

"That wasn't my idea," Fallon began, only for Liam to cut in.

"It was mine."

Fallon's head whipped towards him, surprised. She'd thought it was Kirby's, but perhaps she'd rubbed off on him with her scheming ways.

Liam went on, "Fallon didn't want to do anything to upset her father, as I'm sure you can understand."

"Blake does seem... complicated," Bobbi agreed.

"He is. But Fallon told me that Adam made her extremely uncomfortable, and as her ex-husband and someone who cares deeply for her, I didn't want anything to happen to her. It wasn't the right way to go about doing it, but I'm glad we did so I could help Fallon get out of there."

Fallon sat up a little straighter, not really wanting to sound like she couldn't take care of herself. She knew that wasn't Liam's intention, but her instinct was there nevertheless. "Well, and I remember I once answered a call from Ada, which led to me thinking Michael was cheating on me. I didn't realize who she was until later on, when he said she was blackmailing _him_ by holding blackmail material over _me_. Though, looking back I sort of wonder if maybe we shouldn't have just let her put it out there..."

Liam reached over to take her hand. "It would've been ugly if she had. But Fallon didn't actually do anything wrong besides pretend to do something she didn't. My uncle," he continued, jaw tight and tone darker at the mention of Max, "is the one that tried to use his own nephew's wife for something so vile."

Fallon's gaze fell to the floor but she squeezed his hand a little tighter. She had to really get to the point of why they'd wanted to talk to her: to cover their own future tracks. "Well, I'm just glad to be free of that house. I tried to warn my father but he didn't care, so, as you might've guessed, I've moved out. I really hope that Michael doesn't get in trouble because of Ada or because of me, but I'm just ready to wash my hands of it all." She looked over at Liam with an encouraging smile. "We'll be leaving in just under a month for Liam's book tour, and we've talked a little about maybe moving away from Atlanta."

He hid his surprise well at her mention of his only briefly-suggested idea. But Fallon knew it was a discussion they'd be having once Bobbi left. Instead of reacting too strongly, though, he just nodded. "It'll be nice to get some space. Have a bit of a change. That sort of thing."

Bobbi cracked a smile at that. "Can't say I blame you. But I guess I'm surprised that you two are doing all of this... together."

Fallon blushed a little, which brought out an amused smile from Liam. "Well," he said, "things were messy back then. And though it took us a while, we've sort of... found our way back to each other."

"Well, then," Bobbi pushed herself up off the couch, "I suppose that's all I have for you two. Let me know if anything else happens, okay? Hopefully nothing will."

"Of course," Fallon agreed quickly, standing to walk Bobbi out.

Once the door closed, she locked it back behind her and turned around to lean against it and eye Liam cautiously.

"So we're moving," he said, the intonation lifting at the end as a half-statement, half-question.

"Well, even if it doesn't happen, it makes her think we want out, right? Like we aren't going to wind up at the house, planting evidence against Adam? We're pretending to bow out, I had to hit every available note."

His mild amusement fell away as she spoke, and Fallon felt herself stiffen in response. "Do you want to leave Atlanta or not, Fallon?"

"... It was your idea."

"I know."

She nearly frowned at his lack of assistance. Why couldn't he just say what he wanted so she could know if they were on the same page or not? "I'm not going to ask you to give up your life here, Liam, but-"

"You'd leave without me?"

Her breath caught in her throat at the look on his face and the fact that he so obviously sounded like she'd just hurt him. She pushed away from the door, walking over to stand in front of him. She wanted to reach out, but was afraid he might pull away like he had at Sun Valley. "No. I- I mean... Liam, I don't think I can stay here. And I thought you wanted to leave, or I wouldn't have considered it this much. But I know your mom is here, and you might not be ready to move, yet. I just thought... I don't know. I guess I thought you could write anywhere."

The faster she spoke, the more he seemed to relax, absorbing her words and allowing a sense of calm to come over him. "I can. But you didn't seem interested when I mentioned it before."

"I didn't want to admit that my life here isn't going to go back to normal. I can't get it back, but maybe I don't want to, now." She shrugged one shoulder, her eyes searching his face. "You wanted to work on business plans, right? I have no doubt that you've got other stories in you, but all I know is energy. Green or otherwise. So maybe I just... need to find a city that might need me. Or at least needs a change."

Liam took her cheeks between both of his hands as he leaned in to kiss her briefly. "I can't imagine there's a place that wouldn't be better off for having you."

Fallon rolled her eyes a little, but couldn't fight the smile that grew across her face. "If that's your way of agreeing that we should move, then I'll take it."

He grinned and kissed her again, a little longer that time. "Whatever place you're going to conquer, Fal, I'll be there."


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted May 5, 2019 (nearly took this out in the transfer, but readers liked it; includes fluff as was requested in reviews on ff.net <3 )

Fallon had been crunching numbers all morning, and Liam was bored of it. He couldn't blame her, of course, and he knew that this was Fallon's life before him, and was going to be her life regardless of who she was with or why. And he understood why she was doing it now, especially.

She'd been digging through her own funds and looking at the value of Morell Corp since CA had acquired it. If she didn't get the company back she would have to start over from scratch. So she was working to determine how much she had to offer without breaking her own personal bank, or if it would be cheaper to just found something new.

He didn't really try to distract her, but it seemed that every time she looked up, he was being distracting nonetheless. Or, Fallon thought so anyway. She realized after a little while, though, that it was just her impatience about Jeff and the fake information they needed that had her so distracted. And, of course, how unfairly attractive her boyfriend was. Just when Fallon started to think that maybe she'd just take a little break to bother Liam, he announced that he was heading out.

"What? Where?"

"I'm meeting with my mom," he told her, leaning over her where she sat on the couch with her laptop on her thighs. He kissed her before she could question that even further. "It's no big deal, Fal. I'll be back in time for dinner."

She narrowed her eyes at him slightly. "Is this you asking me to cook before then? Because if I burn this apartment complex down, I'll be able to blame it on the guy who lives here."

"Oh yeah?" He laughed a little. "He wouldn't tell on you?"

"See, I hear he's in love with me," Fallon explained nonchalantly, shrugging. "So I wager he wouldn't blame me. I don't exactly have a lot of practice, yet."

Liam shook his head at her, grinning. "He is, indeed. But how about you text me what you want and I'll pick it up on the way home? You'll get more done with me gone anyway."

"So you noticed," she mused, not even embarrassed.

He _mmhmm'd_ before grabbing his keys. "I'll see you later, sweetheart."

She smiled at him as he left, and was actually rather surprised to find that she indeed got more work done even after knowing that he'd gone to see Laura. It occurred to her that she hadn't actually been able to ask him why he was going, and that bothered her, but as she got further into her pitch and the paperwork surrounding it, the thought drifted away for the time being.

She eventually came up with a dinner idea that she thought he would like as well, sending her suggestion to him. He agreed a few minutes later, giving her a heads up that he would leave soon and try to be back within the hour. She decided to get some laundry done, gathering the things they'd taken on their trip that didn't have to be dry cleaned.

A few minutes before the hour was up, Fallon heard a sound she hadn't expected: a low rumble in the distance.

Her hands froze halfway through folding her pajama pants, and her eyes shifted to the window across the bed from her. A flash of light went up in the distance and Fallon turned sharply on her heels, disappearing into Liam's bathroom.

\------------------

He came home later than he'd said he would, and found the strong, controlled woman he knew sitting on the couch, evidently pouring herself an obscenely tall glass of whiskey. His brow furrowed as he closed the door behind him, but then he saw the way her hand was shaking.

"Fal?"

She looked up, only just realizing he was there, and he instantly registered just how frightened she looked. Liam set down the to-go bags of food and rushed over to crouch next to her, his hand on her knee.

"What happened? Is it Adam?"

Fallon shook her head, just reaching for her glass. His hand stilled her, though, and she turned to him with an expression that almost looked like begging. "Liam..." Her eyes flicked to the window, and he understood as soon as a bolt of lightning flashed and she flinched, turning away from it.

He lifted up, sitting down next to her on the couch so he could pull her into his side. She let out a quiet gripe when the thunder came, shaking the windows with the strength of it. "Hey, it's just rain," he told her. Liam kept his tone gentle, trying to be soothing, but he didn't really understand.

"I know," she agreed, her voice almost unbelievably fragile. Of all things for a woman like Fallon to be upset by, he hadn't expected this. She tucked her face against his neck as a lower-pitched rumble sounded outside. "I usually have pills I can take to calm me down."

"I don't have—"

"I noticed."

He almost cracked a smile at that. At least some part of her sharpness remained, even when she was distressed. It struck him as amazing that she was more afraid of this than of Adam's threats. Protecting herself from Adam was something she could control, he supposed, at least for the most part. But weather? It would do whatever it pleased and she couldn't stop it.

"You're all right, Fallon. We're inside. It can't get you here."

She shook her head against his shoulder. "That's not necessarily true."

"Maybe not. But you're strong, sweetheart. You're just as powerful as any storm."

Fallon tilted her head back to squint at him, evidently trying to decide if she believed him – or, perhaps, even agreed with him. Her whole body jumped when a crack of lightning came down, and Liam realized he wasn't going to be able to just convince her out of her phobia.

"I brought food, so why don't we just turn the television up loud, try and eat, and when it passes you can tell me about what you were working on today, hmm?"

She shrugged a little, and did her best not to complain when he got up to get the containers he'd brought home with him. He grabbed the remote as well, passing it to her. She put on their usual go-to, perhaps figuring that Gordon Ramsey would end up shouting over the storm, and as soon as Liam sat back down, she forced her way under his arm to lean into his chest.

Liam attempted to reach around her with his fork, but just ended up sighing and resting his arm around her back instead.

"Sorry," she told him, setting her container down and taking his. "Here," she held it up so he could eat from it one handed.

He looked confused at first, but chuckled under his breath as she attempted to turn her attention on the television. He didn't start eating like Fallon expected him to. Instead, he held a bite up for her, nudging her arm with her free hand. "C'mon, you said you were hungry."

Fallon just sort of grumbled, but accepted the food to keep him from getting more frustrated with the situation. The next roll of thunder seemed quieter at first, but then a sudden, deeper wave followed it, and Fallon swore she could feel it in her bones.

"Why does it scare you so much?" Liam asked, sounding genuinely curious underneath his still slow, calming voice.

She frowned, taking a moment to consider how to explain it. Her head dropped back against his shoulder, and the next time he saw a flash of lightning, Liam squeezed her a little closer before she could panic too hard.

"Well," she began slowly, "You know Georgia gets a lot of tornadoes. We've seen a- a lot of them while living here. But one of my earliest memories is of an especially dangerous storm. We were down in the cellar, and I remember I was so confused. Steven was trying to distract me with a card game, but Alexis kept walking upstairs to get service on her phone so she could call Blake. Anders was the one that stayed with us. And I kept wondering if my dad was okay. Or if my mom just... wasn't going to come back." Fallon shrugged a little. "I didn't understand how they worked, really; I just knew that tornadoes could kill people."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I can definitely see how that would leave a lasting impression."

Fallon set the takeout container on the side table next to them, suddenly wrapping herself around him. "I know it's ridiculous at this age, but... when it's bad like this, I just need to know that my people are safe. And you were out there, and late, and I just-"

"I'm sorry, Fallon. I would've checked in if I'd known."

She shook her head again, embarrassed. "It's fine, Liam. I know it's an overreaction, but it just... I can't help it."

Liam drew her into his lap, amused at the way she flicked her hair over her shoulders to get it out of her way as she curled her arms around his neck and dropped her forehead against his. "I've got you," he told her quietly. His hands slid up her thighs and around her back to give her a squeeze. "Do you want me to keep an eye on the radar while you eat?"

"Surely someone has made a tornado warning app or something," she suggested, cracking a smile. At the sight of that, Liam leaned in for a kiss, which she didn't break until thunder came on again. She turned to glare at the window, which was now being splattered by the rain almost constantly.

"Eat," he encouraged her, kissing just below her ear before helping her sit back on the couch beside him. He was pleased to see that she went straight for her meal, and that – though she didn't go too far – she wasn't trying to hide against him anymore. Whether she was faking it to make him think she was fine, Liam couldn't tell. But he was proud of her regardless, and decided not to comment on the change for fear of her closing off a little.

The storm raged on for hours, but Liam kept a steady eye on the radar whenever Fallon wasn't looking. She didn't need to know how many different colors were showing up over Atlanta. She inevitably went for the glass of whiskey that she'd poured earlier, but they shared it over the rest of the evening, during which Fallon filled him in on her theory: unless something changed and she somehow gained some sway over the current CA board, it didn't make sense to try and barter to get Morell Corp back. It wouldn't be worth the money in the end, for her.

Liam was prepared to support her either way, and made that known. All of their earlier talks about moving seemed more up in the air – not because they'd changed their minds, but rather because Fallon needed to do more research before she could pick a city that she felt she could succeed in. And it was as Liam had said before. He could write anywhere, and his ties to Atlanta lied in his mother, if she didn't return to New York once the company had made it through its first quarter in new hands safely.

When their glass was empty and the rain started to subside, they found their way to bed. While Liam had always been one to prefer closeness, even in sleep, Fallon tended to start close and then give herself a little space before finally drifting off. She seemed to do just the opposite that night, using Liam himself as her pillow.

The storm was long gone by the time an alert lit up Fallon's phone, but neither of them woke to see it until several hours later. And when Fallon did wake, it was still dark out. She shifted slightly as she waited for any sign of the rain, but there was none.

"What time is it?" Liam asked groggily, lifting a hand to rub at his eyes.

She glanced at the clock on his bedside table. "About five. It's quiet, though."

He tugged her closer to his chest, murmuring, "I'm proud of you, you know."

"For what?"

"You slept through it, even without the pill you mentioned."

Fallon shrugged, playing it cool. "Well, you helped."

A smile broke out across his face. "I think, usually, calling someone a pill is an insult, but maybe that what I am, now."

She shook her head automatically, looking up at him fondly. "No, that's not what you are, Liam. You're-" Fallon stopped herself, surprised by her own thoughts. She could see the way confusion started to eek its way across his features, but the word she'd wanted to finish her sentence with was overwhelming for her.

"I'm what?"

"I... I mean, you're-" She faltered again, and he pushed himself up on his elbow to really look at her. If he hadn't known better, he would've thought that her cheeks were turning red - not to mention the fact that she couldn't quite meet his eyes. "Look, it's nothing bad. It just had this bittersweet sort of feeling to it and I didn't realize I felt that way about it. And, frankly, it's probably far too much for how short a time we've actually been-"

"Fallon, you're not making any sense." He brushed her hair back, then tried to coax her into lifting her chin and really looking at him. "Whatever it is, you can say it. You know how long I've felt this way."

"Do I?"

Liam's smile made her relax a little, but she did so even more when he joked, "I think I might've started falling for you the moment you first insulted me on that bench."

"That's ridiculous," she told him, shaking her head.

"Just say what you wanted to say, Fal. I can take it."

She pursed her lips for a moment, but finally nodded. "I was going to say that you're not just someone I come to when I need something. Not anymore. And I think we both know I wanted things to be different a long time before they actually were. But you're... you're sort of... home, for me." His eyebrows flew up and she rushed to clarify. "I mean, I don't have the manor anymore, or most of my family, and I've heard people say that home really means a variety of things depending on how you look at it, and-"

He reached over to draw her into a fervent kiss, which quickly turned slow and loving, as they both poured everything they felt into the embrace. When they needed to break for air, he turned on his side to rest his forehead against her temple and speak into her ear. "You're the same for me," he assured her, smiling as she pulled his arm across her waist.

When they woke again, later in the morning, Fallon quickly pulled up the message from Jeff – and it was like a spark - from their conversation and the text message - had ignited something in Fallon once more. Liam could practically see the fire being stoked by her need for revenge against Adam, and evidently they had what Jeff, and Michael's sister, thought would be enough.


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted May 7, 2019

Sam came out to meet Liam and Fallon for lunch that day, but he wasn't in a very good mood when he arrived. After all: "I can't believe you're making me hide things from Steven. Again."

"After everything he's been through," Fallon argued as he settled into his seat across from them, "he does not need to be worried about me or Blake. Or you, for that matter."

Liam passed Sam a menu. "We just need to set up a plan, and then we can work towards being free of Adam. Steven isn't talking to him anymore, is he?"

"No," Sam confirmed. "Not as far as I know, anyway. I've kept an eye on things as best as I can."

Fallon sighed a little, but she couldn't blame him. Steven was good at hiding things whenever he wanted to. Hell, he'd kept his relationship with their mother secret for nearly ten years. "Right. Well, basically, we need you to use whatever acting skills you have to distract Adam."

They quieted down as the waiter came by, each of them careful not to act like they were up to anything. But when their orders had been given and they knew they'd be left alone for a little while, Fallon spoke up again.

"We just have to use these documents Jeff designed to finally get rid of him."

"I just can't believe Blake doesn't see him for what he is," Sam muttered, shaking his head.

"Well," Liam said after taking a drink from his glass, "it's been said that villains who twirl their mustaches are easy to spot. Those who clothe themselves in good deeds are well camouflaged."

Fallon's brow furrowed as she looked over at him in surprise. "Where did that come from?"

Liam shrugged, though a sort of amused embarrassment appeared on his face. "Jean-Luc Picard."

Sam snorted. "Nerd."

"Okay, okay," Fallon cut in, waving a hand that ended up settling on Liam's shoulder. "Here's the plan. You need to distract Adam. Maybe tell him something's wrong with Alexis. Even if he doesn't really care, he'll have to pretend he does, which is great for us. Once he's out the back door, we'll get Anders to let me and Liam in. But you have to rush him out in case he locks his door behind him. That way I can sneak in and plant the fake evidence."

Liam lifted a hand to pat Fallon's. "So Anders and I will stay downstairs to keep an eye out for Adam. If he comes back, we'll tell him he has to help us carry out some of Fallon's things."

"Anders has it all boxed up," Sam nodded. "But how do we get Fallon out without him becoming suspicious?"

"I'll make a break for the kitchen and go out the back," she suggested. "We'll figure something out in the moment if we have to. But the longer we wait, Adam's going to dig in somewhere and find a way to hit us first. Or, if we're lucky, he might think that he's sitting pretty with me in New York. If he doesn't know I'm back yet, maybe he'd believe that you're there," she turned to Liam, "to gather some things I need at the apartment for when I get back?"

"It's worth a shot."

The waiter arrived with their food, and the interruption actually led to them eventually having a relatively pleasant lunch, discussing their relationships and how they were all doing outside of the Adam mess. In truth, they all seemed happy for each other despite outside forces trying to destroy things, and by the time they finished their meal and Fallon refused to let Liam cover it, they were resolved to get their plan over with as soon as possible.

\------------------------------

Adam had barely made it home and up to his room in the Carrington manor before he heard Sam shouting from downstairs. Adam stilled, his brow furrowing, but didn't think much of it. Sam had a loud sort of personality that Adam was getting used to, now, but no one in that house ever seemed to shout for the eldest Carrington child.

Or so he thought. A few moments and several rushed, ever-louder footsteps later, Sam burst through the door, making Adam spin around defensively.

"Adam!"

"What?"

Sam hesitated, attempting to catch his breath, before he blurted, "Alexis. She- something's wrong. She's asking for you." Sam waved him towards the door as Adam put on a worried expression. "Come on!"

Sam all but pushed Adam through the door and towards the stairs so he could lead the Carrington demon child out the back door. As they went, he turned and gave Anders, who had been hiding in the doorway to Blake's office, a thumbs up.

Once the back door opened, Anders walked up to the front one and pulled it open as well, letting Liam and Fallon in. She gave Liam's hand a squeeze, thanked Anders, and then rushed upstairs, her pulse racing. She made it to Adam's room and ducked inside, looking around almost frantically for his laptop.

Downstairs, Liam and Anders kept an eye on the back door.

"Whenever he comes back, we act like I just got here?" Liam checked, earning a nod from Anders. Liam found himself grateful that Fallon had a father figure like Anders, no matter how complicated the relationship. In truth, Anders was probably doing it mostly to protect Blake, but from what Liam had been told, Anders' reaction to finding out that Fallon was in danger had been strong. "Thank you," he offered sincerely, extending a hand towards the older man.

Anders took it without hesitation. "This isn't the first time we've almost lost her. Blake may not see that properly, yet, but he will." At Liam's obvious confusion, Anders released his hand and shifted his weight a little. He'd thought someone would've mentioned it during Liam's time around the family. "Fallon was kidnapped once. On her birthday, last year. It seems kidnapping is a common occurrence for Carrington family members."

Liam shook his head, having heard mention of it before but not putting the two together, glancing up the staircase at where Fallon had disappeared to. Blake's office door opened, surprising both Liam and Anders into spinning around.

"You," Blake scoffed at Liam. "What do you want?"

Anders spoke up first. "I've packed up Fallon's things and Mr. Ridley came to start collecting them."

Liam nodded, but Blake practically smirked in response. "She couldn't be bothered to come get them herself?"

"She isn't back from New York yet," Liam claimed.

"Of course she isn't," Blake nodded knowingly. "She's still got you doing all of her work for her, though."

Liam stood up straighter at that, entirely willing to go toe-to-toe with Fallon's father if he had to. The man couldn't have been more wrong, considering where Fallon was at the moment. But Blake held up a hand.

"Anders, see him out. If she wants her things she can come claim them herself."

Liam looked to Anders in question, neither of them moving. Until Anders finally stepped towards the front door and opened it, pointing outside. Liam's eyes widened slightly, but he trusted Anders more than he trusted Blake's temper if he didn't comply. Blake, seemingly pleased that he was being listened to, wandered back into his office but left the door open.

Liam stepped outside, quickly turning around to face Anders. "I'm not leaving her up there. And he'll just see her come down when she leaves, as well."

"I know. I will take care of Blake. Just wait here."

Anders shut the door and Liam let out a curse under his breath. As Anders walked into Blake's office, attempting to come up with an excuse to close the man's door, Adam walked in from the kitchen, heading towards the stairs, unnoticed.

\------------------------

Fallon shut Adam's laptop, having hidden the files away and installed the virus like Jeff told her to. Ironically, she felt a little less upset about using the same thing that had destroyed her before than she'd expected to be. On the other hand, that virus had led to her meeting Liam. So perhaps it wouldn't be so awful that time, either.

She put it back exactly where she'd found it, and started towards the door. That was when she heard the footsteps. But no one was talking, so it couldn't be Liam, Anders or Sam, right? They would've made noise to warn her, or at least sent her a text. She looked around, considering hiding in the closet. She never got the chance, though, because the door opened – and her eldest brother walked in, looking furious. That fury twisted when he saw her, and Fallon couldn't tell if he was more upset, or curious, or just confused.

"You're home," he said casually.

"I am."

"... And in my room." His eyebrow lifted, and Fallon didn't miss the fact that he lingered in the doorway to block her from leaving.

Thinking fast, she did her best to look genuine. "I was hoping... Well, Dad doesn't know I'm here, and you know he and I on the outs. I thought maybe you could convince him to let me come back."

Once she'd said it, Fallon recognized that it wasn't the best idea she'd ever had. Now she had to stand around and act like she cared if he said yes or no. Perhaps it was best to just cave as soon as he refused, so she could storm out and escape.

"Really?" He asked. "Is that why Sam just pulled me out to Mother's room for no reason?"

Fallon feigned surprise, then rolled her eyes. "Well, that's Sam for you. A little overeager. But he's spending so much time with Anders now that I guess I'm not surprised that he's here."

"You could've just called if you needed help, sis."

As if she'd ever want to give him her phone number. "I know," she sighed. "But sometimes it's easier to get things done in person, don't you think?"

Adam nodded, stepping slightly to the side to open a drawer on a dresser that was up against the wall. Fallon's eyes darted to the door and then back to him, not really wanting to pass that closely to him. "I agree," he replied finally. When his hand lifted from the drawer, he had a gun in his grip.

"Whoah," Fallon gasped, backing up and holding up her hands. "What the hell?"

Adam turned the barrel of the handgun on her, while his free hand reached back into the drawer, unrolling a bit of fabric to reveal a pill bottle that sounded nearly full when he shook it.

"Adam," she tried again. "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you a choice, Fallon. Either you take these, which will cause an admittedly more prolonged harm, but will be done of your own volition. Framing you as a user to fool dad? Not exactly difficult considering your alcohol reliance and generally erratic behavior lately. Or, if you're hellbent on being a problem, you and I will take a walk on the vast Carrington grounds, not unlike what happened to Cristal."

Fallon had known he was unstable and dangerous and willing to do whatever it took to get her away from the Carrington name, but if only Adam knew just how eager she was for that same thing to happen. Threatening her life if she didn't let him make her out as someone reliant upon medication seemed a wild leap of logic, and extremely over-dramatic. Based on the call she'd overheard, it didn't really seem to her like he really meant to give her a choice. Surely he was going to just do it anyway? Why bother with the games unless he thought it would somehow teach her a lesson or give him some sense of gratification for having beat her.

He was honestly too much. It was only when he'd started laying down real threats against her that she realized he could do this very same thing to anyone in her family or on their household staff. It was only then that she had made up her mind to come back. So- "Why me?"

"You're an enigma, Fallon. I can't pin down what you're doing like I can with everyone else. Not all the time, anyway. I'd started to think I would have to go through Liam to get to you, and here you are, asking for my help. As if I would want to provide that sort of help when I know you don't trust me. If I did help you," he explained, taking a step closer to her, "then you'd only get in my way. And get back in Blake's ear."

"So I come off as a threat to you."

"Of course. When I started studying the family to make sure I'd be welcomed back, you were the one who had made the news time and again for being clever and ambitious, albeit a bit dramatic sometimes. But who among us isn't, really? I mean, look at where you are now, baby sister."

Fallon knew she should've come up with a better excuse. Asking to get back into the fold had likely just confirmed Adam's theories about her. She felt certain that if he understood just how close he was to the truth, he would've been even more angry with her. She half believed he would've shot her right there for everyone to see.

"If it's up to me," she began slowly, after a few moments of consideration, "I'd rather take that walk."

He tilted his head, seemingly somewhere between amused and exhilarated. His thumb released the gun's safety. Fallon hated the look on his face, but refused to break eye contact. "Whatever you want," he agreed, dropping the pill bottle back in the drawer and covering it up again. The gun went into his jacket pocket, but Fallon could tell very clearly that it was still pointed at her. He gestured for her to lead the way out.

She took a couple of calm steps, hearing the way he casually lingered behind to lock his door. As soon as he started to do so, Fallon bolted.

\-----------------------

Anders finally managed to get Blake's door closed and rushed back to the front door, letting Liam in. He hadn't heard anything from Sam, and started to tell Liam as much when they heard a shout from upstairs, followed by the absolutely distinct sound of a gunshot. If that hadn't been enough to make both men race upstairs, Fallon's scream would've done it.

"Fallon!" Liam yelled, making it to the top of the stairs only to throw both hands up at the sight of Adam, his gun shifting between Fallon and, once spotted, her boyfriend as he came into view. Anders came up behind Liam as various other doors and cries of concern lifted from the first floor.

Fallon had yanked open a door to block herself from Adam's sight, before ducking down to the floor, making him miss by inches as the bullet shattered its way through the wood of the door above her head. She made eye contact with Liam, mouthing an apologetic, _I love you._ He swallowed roughly and nodded, afraid to keep his eyes off of her brother for too long.

"Easy, young man," Anders began cautiously. "If you put that away, you won't have done any real damage. A door is fixable. A person may not be, and with that person will go your freedom."

"I'll be taken away regardless, just like last time."

"Your father bailed you out, last time," Anders pointed out, attempting to just calm Adam long enough that someone else with access to the gun room could find them.

Speaking of their father, Blake rounded the corner from the staircase, taking in the sight before him. Adam, aiming the gun back and forth between everyone and looking downright monstrous. Fallon, wiping tears of shock and fear off of her cheeks. Liam, absolutely fuming but trying to keep himself calm – and Anders, the voice of reason, as ever.

"What is this?" Blake questioned, his words stern and dripping with warning. None of them seemed to know who that warning was directed at.

"I'm just defending myself," Adam claimed, waving his free hand at Fallon. "She broke into my room-" Fallon's head lifted sharply to glare at the door like she could burn him even through it, "-and was trying to dose my drink with some sort of pills."

"That's not true," she growled, still too afraid to stand back up. "He said I could either take whatever the hell those pills even were, and be sent away for good... Or he could shoot me somewhere on the grounds to get rid of me himself. I chose neither."

She looked up at her father, desperate and heartbroken that he hadn't taken her side straight away. Had she really ever done anything awful enough to earn that mistrust? Had Blake not learned his lesson the year before during that very kidnapping Anders had recently explained to Liam? She may have been a Carrington, but Fallon was just as fragile as any other human being when it came to weapons like guns.

Blake stared back at her for a long couple of moments before shaking his head. "Just put it away, son. She can't do anything to you."

Fallon's jaw dropped, and both Liam and Anders looked to Blake with a mix of fury and disbelief.

"But-" Adam attempted, shutting up when Blake lifted his hand almost unnervingly calmly.

"It's fine. You can just put that back in the gun room and we won't bring it up again. As for you, Fallon," Blake looked back at her again, "You and your boyfriend should leave before anything worse happens."

Nobody moved at first, but Blake finally just walked right up to Adam and removed the gun from his hand without fear or even any real protest from his son, emptying out the ammunition onto the floor. Only then did Fallon shove herself to her feet and rush down the hallway to all but crash into Liam as he drew her into his arms and then turned them around so he was standing between her and her family. Anders reached a hand out to Fallon's upper arm, patting soothingly even as he stared at his employer. At the boy he'd raised and now couldn't believe in.

"Well?" Blake snapped. "Go."

Liam and Fallon both shot disgusted glares at her father before he hurried her away, quietly making sure that she wasn't hurt. She didn't respond at all until they were outside on the front driveway, where her shock turned into ragged breaths and panicked gestures as she dug out her phone and placed a call to Bobbi Johnson.

"Fallon-"

She shushed him but pressed further into his arms as the call connected. "Yes. Hi. Um- Can-Can you pull up the bug in Adam's room? There's something you need to hear."


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted May 11, 2019

After confirming that Bobbi was on the way, Fallon finally turned to Liam, just waiting as he ran his fingers over her cheeks and her arms as if Adam really had gotten her and she just didn't want him to know. It was like he could see the elaborately constructed emotional-house-of-cards that had been built inside her because of her family and everything else that had previously happened to her.

"Why didn't you warn me?" She asked eventually, clearly nervous about what the answer might be.

"Blake caught me and made me leave. Adam must've snuck by while Anders was trying to find a way to get me back inside."

"Sam didn't say anything?"

Liam stiffened, his gaze drifting towards the direction of Alexis's loft, and it took only moments for Fallon to put two and two together.

"Oh no," she breathed, before turning around and rushing along the path that led from the driveway to the stable house. Liam followed closely behind her, and neither were truly surprised when they heard shouting coming from a closed door on the ground floor of the building.

"Sam!" Liam called out, approaching the door to wiggle free the brace that Adam had slid through the handle to block it from opening.

"Hey!" Sam returned. "What-? Can you let me out?"

"Working on it," Liam told him.

Fallon stepped forward to speak to him as well. "Are you okay, Sam? He didn't hurt you?"

"No, but- I thought I heard a gunshot?"

"You did," she confirmed just before Liam managed to get the door open and released Sam.

Once freed, Sam rushed forward to hug Fallon, making her eyebrows fly up in surprise. "I'm sorry," he told her sincerely. "When he realized I'd lied, he took my phone."

"It's okay," Fallon assured him, actually giving him a real hug in return. "Bobbi's on the way, and... I mean, I don't know what'll happen." She stepped back to make him look at her properly, so Sam, too, could register that she was okay. She was shaken, yes, but in one piece. "She's arrested him before, though. And while we haven't always seem things the same way, I trust her to dig and prove to Blake who Adam really is, even if we can't do it ourselves."

"But the fakes...?" Liam lifted an eyebrow.

"They're ready."

The three of them hesitated, unsure if they really wanted to go back towards the house. After a moment, though, Fallon realized that they ought to check on Alexis as well. The fact that she hadn't come downstairs because of the commotion was concerning, but when they made it upstairs, she was just painting, seemingly absentmindedly. Fallon just waved her hands at the boys, redirecting them before Alexis could recognize their presence.

Inevitably, they made their way back towards the front door to wait for Bobbi. Sam seemed more fidgety than usual, which could be attributed easily to his lack of a phone to distract himself with. But Fallon was more focused on the way Liam situated himself between her and the front door, his arms wrapping around her waist from behind as she checked in with Jeff, Michael and Kirby.

The police lights seemed to take an eternity, but when Bobbi showed up and took in the trio of shaken and confused people in front of her, she didn't ask questions. Instead, Fallon let them inside, refusing when Liam suggested they should stay outside.

When they located Blake, Adam and Anders at the dining room table, everyone entering – cops and all – were deeply shocked. Fallon stepped forward in confusion, staring at Anders, who had the gun in his hand, now. At Blake, whose crossed arms and deep scowl made clear just how angry he currently was with his eldest son. But especially at Adam, whose hands were literally tied to the chair he sat in.

"What-?" She began, just gaping in her attempt at following Blake's decisions. Why he felt that the best idea was to make Fallon feel abandoned yet again, she wasn't sure. Maybe to convince Adam into coming downstairs with them or into giving up the gun?

At some point, Fallon felt that her family was going to need to develop some sort of signal system.

"Fallon," Blake began, stepping around the table towards her. Somehow, he looked surprised when she stepped away, towards Bobbi and Liam. Blake held his hands up belatedly, realizing what the mood was. "He's all yours," he told Bobbi, gesturing towards Adam.

Fallon narrowed her eyes at her brother, wishing he'd never come back to them in the first place, no matter how happy it made Blake for those brief few weeks. Adam opened his mouth but she held up a hand. "I would recommend against saying anything without a lawyer present. I don't know if you'll be able to afford one without Dad, though."

Several sets of eyes shifted to Fallon without her acknowledging it – she'd called him Dad, after all. And that was very telling. It made Liam furrow his brow in curiosity, but no one said anything until Bobbi stepped forward to handcuff Adam, reading him his rights.

\------------------------

Fallon tapped the heel of her shoe against the floor in front of her as she sized up her father. He sat on the other side of his desk, looking both frustrated and ashamed, which – if she were being entirely honest – Fallon sort of reveled in seeing. She gave him a few moments of silence before finally speaking up. "You know, Liam's waiting for me, so-"

"I'm sorry, Fallon."

She blinked at him at first, not sure how someone responded when Blake Carrington said those words. Perhaps it would've helped to have Cristal join them. But this was about a father and a daughter, and everything between them.

"Really," she responded, unsure if she meant it as a question or not.

He nodded, clasping his hands atop his desk. "Yes. You... you were right."

Fallon shrugged, as if to say it certainly wasn't the first time. "Well, I can't say I understand a father's point of view, but I suppose it would be hard to think badly about someone you've spent so long wondering about."

Blake's eyebrows lifted, and she knew what he was thinking. How strange for Fallon Carrington to be considerate and thoughtful about something like that. Clearly, Liam was having a questionable influence on her.

"Speaking of someone you've spent a long time thinking about, your boyfriend lied to me earlier. What were you trying to do?"

Drawing in a slow breath, Fallon tried to come up with an excuse on the fly. Mercifully, it wasn't entirely untrue, so she figured it probably sounded honest. "I was pretty sure you wouldn't want me to come home."

"Well, perhaps we can change that," Blake suggested slowly, as if easing her into it. "I intend to speak to Steven and Sam as well, about you all potentially moving back home. I clearly dove into believing Adam when my very own voices of reason told me not to."

"You're being oddly forthright about your mistakes, Blake."

He shrugged slightly, but nodded. "I thought we'd lost Adam for good. And then he returned, only to send my other son away, and nearly kill my daughter. I didn't really know him. I wanted to, clearly, but what sort of trade would that have been?"

Fallon lifted an eyebrow, attempting to quell the unfamiliar hope she felt. "Well. I do remember pointing out that the only time I recall you admitting that you care about us was after Grandpa died. Better late than never, I guess?"

"If you want to move back home, you're welcome to," he said firmly, clearly not interested in continuing the discussion if it involved Fallon roasting him for his emotions.

"And I appreciate that, Dad. I don't doubt that Steven and Sam will. But... Liam and I are making plans. Real ones, this time, with actual goals that are based in- in love and what we both want. It's... It's really good. I mean, we both knew I had to move out eventually."

"Well, you could always come back to Atlantix. Culhane isn't there for you to target anymore."

"Cute."

Blake lifted his hands in surrender, actually cracking a smile.

"I'm working on some new business plans, but it will probably take me a while. Really that's for the best, though. I'm going on Liam's book tour with him, so I'll have some down time first."

Blake lifted an eyebrow, clearly taken aback by her commitment. "Perhaps if I find a break I should look into it."

Fallon tilted her head. "What?"

"The book? If he's your... choice, or whatever you're calling it, then maybe I ought to start pretending to be supportive."

She just blinked at him again, before shaking her head in amazement. "I- Well, sure. If he ever lets me read it, I'll buy you a copy. But first I need to focus on putting my money towards a company I can lead, like you have with CA."

"Maybe you buy me the book and I buy you Morell Corp back."

Fallon sighed, of course feeling deeply tempted. But that wasn't how she wanted to start her new chapter, no book pun intended. "Thanks," she replied, "but I'm all right. Even if I don't get it back, I'll build something new. I don't want you to spend all your money on me, like we Carringtons do with our problems. I just want you to be my dad. I used to be your favorite, remember?"

"Not that I'd ever tell Steven that."

Fallon looked away but allowed a pleased smile to bloom across her face.

"Besides," Blake continued. "Eventually children need to build dynasties of their own. Families, businesses... whatever they please."

She wasn't prepared to say it with as much conviction as she really felt it, but Fallon wanted that sort of legacy – that sort of future – with Liam. Or maybe she _was_ ready, just not in front of her father. He'd heard her say things like that before, when she lied about Jeff and thought she meant it about Michael. Maybe she could've meant it about Michael if she hadn't met Liam. And maybe that wasn't fair, but it was the truth.

"Yeah," she agreed. "But I do think you should reach out to Steven. Sam mentioned today that he thought maybe he and Steven would travel, do some good, that sort of thing. But they'd need somewhere to come home to that they don't have to pay constant rent on. And if you're offering, I'm pretty confident they would take you up on that."

Almost unbelievably, he promised to do so and even stood up to hug Fallon as she left. Deciding to save that one for story time whenever she next saw Steven, Fallon hurried onto the back patio to join Liam down by the pool.

She rather liked Liam's hugs better, she found, and happily accepted one before sliding her hand down his arm to twine their fingers together. "So."

"So?"

"Dad suggested I should move back in and work at Atlantix again."

Liam's eyebrows rose slowly, before pulling together sharply with his disappointment. "...Oh. What did you say?"

Fallon shrugged, acting like she was going to lay down some bad news. "Well... I may have told him that I had bigger plans."

A proud smirk pulled at his lips, and Fallon's expression quickly shifted to match. "You sure? I know how much he means to you."

"He hasn't stood by me. Not really. And all of that talk in there was just his guilt. Or maybe him hoping I won't go telling the story to anybody. I don't know. I'd like to think he had a change of heart, but it's Blake, so..." She shrugged. "I may want his approval, but I don't need him. Not like I used to." Fallon stepped a little closer, ducking her chin so she had to look up at him under her lashes. "You might be unsurprised to learn that you matter more to me, now."

Liam leaned forward to kiss her, even going so far as to lift her off the ground in both joy and awe at how far they'd come. She let out a quiet laugh of surprise, making him grin in response before setting her down. Fallon swatted at his arm, though she obviously wasn't bothered by the gesture, so Liam took her hand once more to keep her from hitting him again. "So does that mean we can go home?"

"Home? We should upgrade from your apartment, honestly."

He feigned hurt. "My apartment is fine."

"Sure," she shrugged. "Until you see how many boxes are actually in my room upstairs."

Fallon turned towards the house again, tugging him by his hand to go show him. In the end, he firmly agreed about the apartment situation. But it wasn't like he'd really thought they wouldn't move. After all, if Fallon was going to start her new career, they'd need to pick house wherever that job took her. So, leaving the boxes behind, they left for home ('for now,' as Fallon said), and after a well-deserved dinner featuring Fallon's favorites, Liam made sure to show her just how relieved he was that she'd made it out of that room alive.


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted May 13, but was drafted before most of Season 2 aired. Although this lined up really closely to what happened in the show, I decided to keep it as such, mostly out of amusement, and looking back at previous chapters you'll see where it was built into the story for quite a while.  
> Thus, an epilogue of sorts:

_Three weeks later..._

Fallon rolled over, yawning widely as she woke in response to the phone alarm she'd set the night before. The day's schedule was set, and absolutely full of meetings with potential investors. As much as she hated to admit it, they hadn't gone well recently. It was hard to find confident people sold on Fallon's goal when she wasn't going to even move out of Atlanta for another month.

She hit the unlock button on her phone to shut the alarm off, then rolled back over, curling herself around the pillow she'd turned sideways in place of Liam. Once she'd gotten used to being snuggly, it was frustrating when the other side of the bed was cold. Again. Though she gave herself a few minutes to just miss him, Fallon eventually pushed herself out of bed to prepare for the long day she undoubtedly had in front of her.

After dressing and gathering her computer and notes, Fallon headed down to an office space she had reserved. It looked more formal than an apartment, after all, and there wasn't a good place to fake something business-like. So she had no choice but to go elsewhere, even though she would've rather stayed at home.

In the cab on the way over, Fallon answered a call from her father. "Everything okay?" She asked automatically, still a little upset over the fact that Blake had taken to checking in now and then on Adam, despite everything.

"We're fine over here," Blake said quickly. Fallon could practically hear him waving an unconcerned hand. "You have your last meetings today?"

"Yeah..."

"Going that well, are they?"

Fallon sighed. "No. They don't like the delay between now and me actually moving out there to start things."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," Blake told her. "Whatever's supposed to happen will."

Her eyebrows pulled together as she realized how absurd that sounded. Especially coming from him. "Who are you, and what have you done with my dad?"

He laughed in response. "I may be listening to Cristal more than I used to," he admitted.

"Good."

"Have you heard from Liam?"

She frowned, though he of course couldn't see her. "No. I'm sure he's just busy."

"He's not my favorite person," Blake admitted, making Fallon scoff – because, obviously he wasn't, "but he's stuck with you this long. That has to mean something. You shouldn't worry, Fallon."

He quickly came up with an excuse to end the call, only confusing her more. Despite her father asking about her meetings, it sounded a little too much like he just wanted to know about Liam. With Culhane working at Atlantix again, she almost thought it was some check-in from Blake on Michael's behalf. But that didn't really make sense, either. Despite him kissing her several weeks back, the truth had come out about the fake pregnancy. Lucky for her, he'd started to suspect it, and when she explained why she'd let him believe it, he understood. He wasn't pleased, but he understood.

It probably helped, too, that she'd nearly been killed a couple of days prior.

So Fallon got to her reserved office, sat through her meetings, and tried not to think about just how much she missed Liam, and the way her career had been going back when they first met.

\-----------------------------

Liam set his phone down on the side table that afternoon, resting it against a pile of books before going over to the bedroom to surprise Fallon. She was sitting in bed, clearly freshly home from her meetings, but already tapping away at her computer. He knocked lightly on the door frame, watching closely as her eyes leapt up in confusion – then lit from within thanks to her joy at his early return. She clearly hadn't noticed the door opening, but to be fair, he'd been quiet about it.

New York was magnificent as usual, his last meeting with his editor had been great, and the errands he'd run had gone even better. But none of those things held a candle to Fallon.

She set her laptop down almost carelessly, planted her feet on the floor, and walked over to greet him. Liam opened his arms to her, catching her as she reached him. "You're back," she greeted just before winding her arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss. Though she tried to lure him towards the bed, Liam had other plans.

He stepped back, one hand sliding down her arm and then winding around her back. "I have something for you."

Her frustration was immediately overridden by curiosity, as he knew it would be, so she let him lead her into the kitchen, where a square package was wrapped with gold paper and a red bow almost precisely the shade of the lipstick she so favored. Fallon looked between him and the gift, confused but obviously not about to reject it. Gifts were some of her absolute favorite things, as she figured must be true for pretty much everyone.

"What is it?" She asked, fully expecting the silence she got when he let go of her hand so she could approach and pick it up. Fallon carefully undid the paper at one end, somehow feeling like this was something important. Otherwise why would he have made such a point of surprising her with this and with his early return?

When she got the end open enough to see what was inside, she turned her head back to him with a gasp. Liam just smiled back, nodding towards it to urge her on. She looked back down at the package, sliding the paper off and just staring at the book that now rested in her hands. His name – not the pen name that had such a strong similarity to her go-to drink (minus the extra mint, of course), but just Liam Ridley – stood up from the material of the cover, and she ran her fingers over the letters, even more proud than she'd expected to be.

"How long have you had this?"

"Since we left New York," he admitted. "I wrapped it a day or two after we got home."

She looked over at him again, lifting an eyebrow. "You saw my text to Kirby didn't you?" She accused. "About how I was going to write your editor and complain if you wouldn't let me buy one. I've been trying to prepare for your tour, but I can't without reading the thing, Liam."

Liam just shook his head, smiling. He hadn't seen any such message, and that just seemed to confuse her even more.

"Well?" He pressed when she just frowned at him, walking a little closer behind her and peering over her shoulder to watch how she took it in. "Open it."

Fallon glanced at him again, earning herself a broad smile that drew one out of her in return. She flipped open the cover, turning the pages with a careful reverence that Liam was grateful for. At the dedication page, she stopped with a startled gasp. He knew what she'd found:

_For Fallon, of course. I love you. Don't go skipping to the end this time, okay? Turn the page, Fal._

She very nearly turned around, thinking she might just pull him into a kiss before heading over to the couch to start reading it straight away. After all, dedication pages had to be planned ahead of time if they were going to be included in the first run of the book. How long had he planned this? Before Sun Valley? After?

But that last sentence made her hesitate. She could practically hear him saying it in her head. So instead, she flipped to the next page, shocked to see two formerly-blank pages full of Liam's handwriting. One hand lifted to her mouth, but she took her time reading through it, trying to absorb it all like she knew he'd want her to.

_Fallon,_

_I promised that you could read this when it was ready. But I meant when I thought that we were ready. You likely predicted that this book would have something to do with you, so don't be surprised if you see yourself in it._

_Before you start reading, though, I need to thank you. For pushing harder than anyone, to achieve the things you want. For encouraging me along this path, whether you meant to originally or not. I should've told you the truth – that I knew who you were – from the moment I met you, but you looked so devastated I couldn't help wanting to protect you. I had no idea we would end up needing each other as much as we obviously do._

_Is it crazy that I didn't even realize what was missing until I met you? I knew something was off, …but then there was you. I meant every word I said at that party of ours – except for the part about believing in fate taking control. You were always the one leading, and I was always ecstatic whenever I could help you reach your goals. Not just because they were helping my family as well, but because I wanted all of those things for you, too: Success, and a future, and the chance at a real romance – not something your father decided to force on you. And I didn't realize why I was being selfless in that way until I realized that you were, too. Especially for me._

_I am so proud of you, Fallon. And I love you. More than anything._

_Turn around, sweetheart._

Astounded, she just stared at the page for another moment, her heart pounding. She had a small suspicion of what he was trying to do, as Fallon had always loved praise but never really knew if any of it was genuine unless it was to do with her appearance or skill in a board room. Sure, she always took the compliments, but when it came down to it, how much of it really felt real? Not all of them, that's for sure. So of course he was taking this chance to tell her in a way she couldn't ignore or write off.

Still, the last sentence had her cradling the book as she turned to face him – but she gasped loudly, drawing the open pages tight against her chest when she saw him. "Liam-"

"Easy, Fal," he interrupted with a nervous chuckle. He was down on one knee, a hand extended to show her the little black box he'd brought home with him. "Just hear me out, okay? I know, compared to when we started dating officially, this seems a little fast. But you know I've been set on you since we met. And we may have done this sort of thing before, but not for the right reasons. Not the right way. And you read what I left you there, so you must know how serious I am." He glanced down at the box, steeling himself. "I-"

He cut himself off when he looked back up and realized she was starting to cry. Liam rushed to stand and reach out to her. But that just made her more upset. "No!" Fallon blurted out, stepping forward and pushing at his shoulder. "No, finish."

A smile that was somewhere between proud and thrilled appeared on his face, and he sank back down, reaching for the hand that wasn't holding the book against her. "Fallon Morell Carrington... you are... stunning. And clever. And so much kinder than people know. You have been through hell, and been questioned, every step of the way. But I don't want you to ever question this. I don't care how long I have to wait in order for you to be ready to go through with another wedding. I promise you, I will not let anyone mess with this one. If you'll do me the honor... of marrying me again. What d'you say, Fal?"

She shook her head rapidly, much to Liam's surprise, but then she closed the book and gently set it down as she lowered herself to his level, pulling him into a fervent, passionate kiss. He brought his empty hand up to the back of her head, carding his fingers through her hair as he returned her fervor with his own. When her tears became too much and she needed to break way for air, he kissed his way across one cheek as she brushed the other free of tears.

"Is, uh... Is that a yes?" He asked finally, drawing back to look at her.

Fallon blinked at him, before realizing, "... Did I not say it out loud?"

The whole thing was so astounding to her. It was private, and perfect, and she realized that as nice as a big, extravagant proposal was, this was just for her. It was representative of them. So perhaps that was why she was so overwhelmed.

Liam let out a pleased laugh, shaking his head. "That's okay. Here." He held up an exact match to the ring that had been picked out for their marriage con, which she realized must've been based off of pictures and memory, since Culhane had thrown the other one into the pond.

Fallon offered her left hand instantly, trying to get ahold of herself. "Sorry," she murmured, shaking her head enough to flick her hair over her shoulders. "I'm just... surprised."

"Really?" He asked, laughing at the way she tried to regain her composure. It was just him; she knew she didn't have to. But this was a big deal, clearly.

"Don't _really_ me, Ridley. I thought you'd wait... I don't know, a year or something. You were so intent on doing everything the right way."

Liam shrugged one shoulder, having to give her that one. "True. But I mean, we've had a long time, haven't we? Technically? Not that I'm complaining, but I've waited for you for at least that long."

She pouted slightly at the reminder, but he just kissed the pout away, then helped her stand. "Now. As inclined as I am to waste the rest of the evening celebrating," he teased, drawing her against his chest, "am I going to have to fight against my book for your attention now?"

"Are you kidding?" Fallon asked, lifting an eyebrow. "I've got days to read and re-read it."

With all of their newly-established plans, excitement, and absolute adoration for each other, they did, of course, spend the evening as he'd implied. But then they were up bright and early, ready to share the news – all of it – with their friends.

Fallon had set up a return brunch for Liam anyway, thinking he was due early that morning, so they all met at his favorite little restaurant just outside of downtown Atlanta. All, of course, meaning Kirby, Sam, Steven, and Monica. Fallon was glad that Liam had found ways to get along with her friends, though it did occur to her then that she didn't know any of Liam's friends separate from her own. Perhaps she'd be able to fix that once they moved into their new place.

She purposefully kept her left hand in her lap as everyone came in, releasing Liam's hand so he could stand and greet the others as they arrived. When the waiter arrived to take their orders, Fallon requested mimosas for the table, which made Liam smile slightly in understanding. The others didn't seem to think anything of it, instead asking Liam about his trip.

"It wasn't as exciting as all that," he assured them. "Just handling some family business, getting Fallon her company back, that sort of thing."

Fallon's head whipped towards him, her eyes wide. "You didn't say anything," she said, her mouth hanging open as her disbelief and hope overwhelmed her.

"And make everyone miss that look on your face?" He teased, leaning over to kiss her cheek.

She stopped him as he started to pull away again, instead lifting her hand to draw him into a kiss. It ended sharply, though, as Monica and Kirby let out a gasp and squeak, respectively. Fallon's eyes opened to stare at Liam, realizing what she'd done. She had planned on using a toast with their mimosas to show off the engagement ring, but had instead cradled his cheek with that hand without thinking.

"Fallon!" Kirby chided, making the newly-engaged couple turn their heads to look at everyone else. "W-What?!"

For perhaps the first time ever, at least in front of Sam, Fallon blushed a deep red. "Liam came home early," she started, her thumb spinning the ring around her finger. "He surprised me with his book." She looked to him, wanting to hear how he would describe it.

He took her right hand, grinning broadly. "I had already written out the dedication to her before we started working together again, but I left her a note in her copy. So when she finished reading it... I asked." Admittedly, Fallon had expected a little more elaboration than that, but then again, she liked that it had been something just for the two of them, as so little had been in their relationship.

It was only as her gaze swept back to the others that Fallon realized Sam and Steven didn't look shocked at all. "... You two knew."

"I had to ask someone," Liam joked. "I mean, I know you wouldn't care if I didn't. And I know what Blake means to you, but I thought these guys knew you better."

"So you didn't ask Dad?"

"No, I talked to him, too. But, I thought maybe it was too fast, at first. These two talked me out of that, thankfully."

Fallon reached over to squeeze her brother's hand, smiling with fondness and gratitude. Steven just smirked a little, saying, "We know you well, baby sister."

She rolled her eyes, but clearly didn't mean it as anything but a cover for how emotionally overwhelmed she was. "Yes, I can tell. But I'm just glad we're finally ticking all of our boxes. We leave in a little over a week for the book tour, and if I can, I'll set up meetings here and there for the company now that that's settled. And then we get to go house hunting."

"In Buckhead?" Kirby asked cautiously, her brow furrowing.

"...In Denver," Fallon corrected.

When Sam saw the dismay on Kirby and Monica's faces, he just waved a hand as he lifted his mimosa for a sip. "Oh, please. This just means we get to vacation in Colorado all the time." He winked at the others, who smiled their agreement.

Liam draped his arm over the back of Fallon's chair, apparently unable to stop smiling. "As long as there's a place for me to write, I'll be fine."

"The views will be perfect," Monica assured him. "But that's a lot of changes all at once, you two. You're sure about all of this?"

Fallon's face actually fell at that, feeling disappointed that their high was being a little spoiled. She wasn't going to let the question slide, though. Not when Liam had just returned and she was so excited about everything that was coming their way. "Yes, I'm sure," she replied firmly. "With this man next to me, how could I not be?"

Liam's hand shifted to Fallon's shoulder, squeezing gently. "I don't think I've been so sure of anything before." He leaned over to press a kiss to the side of her head, but she was quickly pulled into a conversation with Monica and Kirby about some high school friend's Instagram pictures, and Liam made a point to check in with Steven like he always did.

And though neither of them said it out loud, Liam and Fallon both had a thought running through the back of their mind: They were, despite everything, very lucky.


End file.
